ottawa –
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Peru to begin five days of talks with leaders from around the world as the world prepares for the impending return of US President-elect Donald Trump.
The talks come as emerging powers like China vie for influence in South America and as Canada clings to the global trading bloc and multilateral system under pressure from populist leaders.
Prime Minister Trudeau is attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Lima. The group focuses on resolving trade barriers and forming better connections across the Pacific Rim. He will then head to Brazil to attend the G20 summit, the world’s largest economy.
Bina Najibulla, vice president for research at the Asia Pacific Foundation, said there is much to criticize about both summits, including who attends and how productive they tend to be. But she stressed that they are critical if Canada is to live its place in a changing world.
“Our prosperity depends on this,” she said.
“There is a lot of anxiety because the situation is changing and we need to have a seat at the table in rebuilding the international trade order and rebuilding the international economic order.”
Prime Minister Trudeau is scheduled to participate in a meeting with guest countries invited by Peru on Friday, and he is scheduled to address delegates during the lunch break. The afternoon will include meetings with various national and business leaders, including events focused on inclusive growth and environmental sustainability.
APEC played a role in creating the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a trade agreement that represents a vast region of the Pacific Rim, from New Zealand to Chile. Canada ratified the agreement in 2018.
Although the United States participated in the conclusion of the trade agreement, President Trump withdrew the United States from it on his first day in office in 2017. His successor, current US President Joe Biden, did not rejoin the deal, a sign of Americans’ bipartisan weariness with trade deals. globalization.
Najibullah said Trump’s impending inauguration is likely to mean a reduction in the US role in multilateral institutions and in the fight against climate change, as well as increased tensions with China over trade, tariffs and technology. said to mean.
Canada currently chairs the CPTPP trade bloc and will host the G7 summit of developed countries next year, culminating in a summit in Alberta. That means Prime Minister Trudeau will push in the coming days to maintain rules-based trade “which is critical to the prosperity of our country,” Najibulla said.
“APEC is meeting in a context of rising protectionism, intense geopolitical competition, uncertain economic growth and the election of President Trump,” he said.
“This is a far cry from the vision that created APEC, which was all about trade liberalization (and) deepening economic integration. APEC is essentially a product of an era of hyperglobalization, and it is certainly nearing its end.”
APEC meetings provide an opportunity for leaders to meet when they are unlikely to visit each other’s countries, and last year in San Francisco, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Mr. Biden announced restrictions on the use of surveillance balloons and microchips. quelled diplomatic tensions caused by the
Canadian officials have remained silent on the possibility that Trudeau will meet with Xi either in a formal sit-down or in an informal hallway conversation.
Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly visited Beijing in July, and Prime Minister Trudeau could use this visit to prepare for that, but Najibullah said the Chinese leader will not be able to meet other leaders at the two summits. It is likely that more attention will be paid to
“I think the tone and rhetoric will escalate in the coming months, in part because of the actions that the United States will take, and Canada will have to continue to keep pace with that,” Najibulla said.
Indian media has also speculated about whether Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet with Prime Minister Trudeau, given that Modi’s government has blamed the Trudeau government rather than Canada as a whole for the escalating tensions. That is unlikely, Najibulla said.
Mr. Najibullah emphasized that Canada is a respected country in the region, including Peru.
“With our historic involvement, especially in the mining sector, we are not a small player and can play an important role in increasing the presence of Western countries at the conference.”
More than a dozen Canadian business leaders will attend the summit as industry seeks to expand trade in the region, including for critical minerals and clean technologies.
The prime minister leaves for Brazil on Sunday for the Group of 20 summit, where discussions range from the war in Ukraine to artificial intelligence and ending hunger.
The Group of 20 (G20) includes long-time allies like French President Emmanuel Macron to Argentina’s Javier Macron, who just withdrew his negotiators from the annual UN climate change talks in Azerbaijan. It includes a variety of leaders, up to populist agitators like President Milais.
John Kirton, head of the G20 Study Group, expects Prime Minister Trudeau and a number of leaders to hold informal talks on how to navigate President-elect Trump’s term.
“Prime Minister Trudeau will be in a relatively good position because he’s been with Donald Trump on (several) summits and we’re neighbors and we’re a frontline nation. ” he said.
His team, based at the University of Toronto, will closely monitor President Trump’s protectionist policy promises and what his exit communiqué says about global trade.
President Trump has vowed to implement high tariffs, which have been criticized by economists. The London School of Economics warned last month that such policies could harm the economies of the United States, China and the European Union.
Najibullah said it’s important for governments like Canada to avoid fatalism and remember that the policies promised by Trump may look different when actually implemented. said.
“There is room and opportunity for economies and nations to work together and seek common responses to what they perceive to be threats,” he said.
“These multilateral meetings remain the best we have, and we are doing everything we can to make them more relevant and better suited to address today’s challenges. I have to.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 15, 2024.