The Minister of the International Trade of Canada said on Thursday that there were interest on both sides to advance trade negotiations with the South American Mercosur Bloc, because Ottawa is looking for new transactions in pressure to diversify from the United States.
Prime Minister Mark Carney and his team were locked in talks with US President Donald Trump to chop a trade agreement by August 1, which could help reduce prices in Canada.
But his government is also preparing to rely less on a relationship that has generated bilateral trade of more than 1 billion of Canadian dollars (727.33 billion dollars) last year and to focus on the diversification of exchanges by signing free trade pacts worldwide.
“I had conversations with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brazil, and there is an appetite for conversations around Mercosur,” said Minister Sidhu in an interview with Reuters.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva said in April that he was interested in advancing talks for a trade agreement between the Mercosur block in South America and Canada.
Mercosur – which includes Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay – has experienced negotiation sessions for a trade agreement with Canada in the past.
Canada also wishes to continue discussions with China to meet business challenges and consider a thaw of relations between India and Canada as an important step to support trade, said the minister.
“With China, there are opportunities, there are challenges,” he said, adding that countries organize free discussions on a path to follow on commercial prices around canola, beef, pet food and many other products.
Canada has 15 free trade agreements covering 51 countries, which gives it access to 1.5 billion consumers and Sidhu said that Ottawa would pursue more agreements in the coming months without giving a specific objective.
He had signed a free trade agreement with the equator and an investment promotion pact with the United Arab Emirates in his first two months in power and that the discussions were with the ASEAN countries and also individually with the Indo-Pacific countries, including Indonesia and the Philippines.
Sidhu said Canadian companies are too exposed to the United States and that they are not as competitive as Trump’s prices before.
“My job is to be there for the opening of the doors,” he said, adding that he would seek to diversify not only trade, but also the Defense markets of Canada in the United States
Carney has promised to increase defense expenses by an additional $ 9 billion this year to reach NATO’s goal of spending 2% of GDP.
“We are working with the European Union and other partners around the world to help unlock some of these defense supply opportunities for our Canadian companies,” he said.
Canadian exports to the United States fell in May to 68% of total exports, compared to a monthly average of 75% last year. The United States in May was the lowest ever recorded when companies have prompted to diversify from the United States.
He did not respond directly to what a trade agreement would be like between Canada and the United States, but said the government “would work on an agreement that is best for Canadian and Canadian workers.”
