As U.S. President Donald Trump continues to hold out the threat of steep tariffs on Canadian imports, the federal trade minister is citing a new deal with Ecuador as proof that its trade diversification strategy is working
Mary Ng told The Canadian Press the free-trade agreement with Ecuador, the sixth-largest economy in South America, is the 16th such deal signed since the government launched its trade diversification push eight years ago.
A lot of the existing trade with Ecuador is agricultural, with the South American nation sending Canada bananas, cocoa beans and seafood, while Canada sends wheat, cereal and lentils.
Statistics Canada says the top products traded between the two nations also include petroleum products, fertilizers and precious metals. Ng said she sees opportunities in services as well.
Canada hasn鈥檛 had much luck in talks with its traditional trading partners in recent years. The U.K. walked away from trade talks with Canada last year over access to the cheese market.
Ng said that while she would welcome the U.K. back to the talks, she鈥檚 currently focused on expanding trade with other countries.
鈥淐anada welcomes the United Kingdom back at any time they wish to come back to the to the table,鈥� she said.
鈥淏ut in the meantime, we have concluded an agreement with Indonesia. In the meantime, I鈥檝e launched exploratory discussions with the Philippines. In the meantime, we are at the negotiating table with the ASEAN group of countries and nations, and we鈥檝e just concluded Ecuador, and we will continue to take businesses abroad into these markets.鈥�
Ottawa is in trade talks with the ten nations in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). It also launched exploratory discussions with the Philippines late last year, around the same time it finalized a comprehensive economic partnership agreement with Indonesia.
Ng said she is considering travelling to Australia and Singapore this month as well.
Boosting trade with ASEAN countries is part of Canada鈥檚 Indo-Pacific strategy. But that strategy has encountered turbulence as well.
Trade talks between Canada and India, which had been stop-and-go for about a decade, were abruptly put on ice in the fall of 2023 and have not resumed since.
That rupture happened immediately after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stood in Parliament to state that his government had 鈥渃redible allegations鈥� linking agents of the Indian government to the murder of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was shot to death in Surrey, B.C. months earlier.
The U.S. has given Canada a month-long reprieve from Trump鈥檚 threat to impose steep tariffs in response to what he claims is Canada鈥檚 inaction on border security and drug trafficking. But the incoming administration also has indicated there are other major sticking points that will come up down the road.
鈥淐anada, as we spoke about, treats our dairy farmers horribly. That鈥檚 got to end,鈥� Howard Lutnick, Trump鈥檚 pick for commerce secretary, said at a hearing on Jan. 29. 鈥淚鈥檓 going to work hard to make sure, as an example, for your dairy farmers 鈥� (that) they do much, much better in Canada than they鈥檝e ever done before, and that is a key focus of this administration.鈥�
Ng suggested Ottawa won鈥檛 put supply management in the dairy sector on the table with the Trump administration, citing the last major round of trade talks with the U.S. after Trump reopened NAFTA.
鈥淲hen we negotiated those provisions with respect to dairy and agriculture, they鈥檙e a part of a balance of a whole number of things that were negotiated at the time,鈥� she said, adding it was ultimately Trump鈥檚 deal. 鈥淎griculture, dairy, supply management was part and parcel of a broader negotiation.鈥�
But the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) will be up for review in the summer of 2026.
Ng, who has helped spearhead Canada鈥檚 approach to the incoming U.S. administration for the past year, said she and Industry Minister Fran莽ois-Philippe Champagne have had upwards of 1,300 meetings with American stakeholders and politicians to send the message that it鈥檚 not worth the pain to squeeze Canada with tariffs.
鈥淚 keep reminding people that Canada buys more from the United States than Japan, than China, than the United Kingdom combined,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e are a big customer and tariffs only hurt the American consumer. They hurt them at the grocery stores, at the pumps.鈥�
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce has urged the federal government to press for the elimination of internal trade barriers, now that the trading relationship with the U.S. is under threat.
It estimates internal trade barriers act like a 21 per cent tariff on Canadian goods.
