China makes trade deal with Canada amid US tariffs
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service.
I'm Julia McFarlane, and at 16 Hours GMT on Friday the 16th of January, these are our main stories. China and Canada announce a major strategic partnership. Could this be the beginning of the end of Pax Americana?
What trade deal did Canada and China announce?
We get the view from inside China. In a separate development, the United States and Taiwan have reached a trade agreement that reduces import taxes on goods from the island, while increasing Taiwan's technology investment in the US. And Myanmar has begun its defence at the UN's highest court against charges of carrying out genocide against its Rohingya minority. Also in this podcast, people fleeing the deadly crackdown inside Iran offer a rare glimpse of the horrors suffered by those taking to the streets.
And... There were two scientists who were noticing that type 2 diabetics were often people living with obesity. And so when they saw this weight loss, they thought, oh my gosh, we would not just be a treatment company, we would be a prevention.
We hear about the history of weight loss drugs. Donald Trump is fond of calling himself a great peacemaker, able to persuade foreign leaders to put aside their differences. Well, a new trade deal agreed by Canada and China was not brokered by President Trump, but it may not have happened without him.
How might US tariffs influence Canada's trade relationships?
Relations between Beijing and Ottawa have plummeted over the past decade. China has accused Canadian citizens of spying. Canada has accused China of election interference. But US tariffs have forced other countries, even its neighbour and close ally Canada, to seek out new partners. Speaking in Beijing, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada had to adapt to a new reality.
Canada can thrive in a new system, but to do so, we must work at speed and scale to find new partners.
The deal will see China export 49,000 electric vehicles to Canada at a preferential tariff rate. And China will reduce tariffs on Canadian agricultural products like canola seed, commonly used in cooking oil. Our correspondent in Beijing, Stephen McDonald, told us the agreement represents a major strategic shift.
Mark Carney said that his government's relationship with China was actually more predictable than that with the US and that the fruits of that predictability had panned out in this trip. You know, years ago, it would have been unthinkable to hear a Canadian prime minister speaking like this. Thus is the nature of the meltdown that Canada has had with the Trump administration.
Stephen, everything we've heard today has been very much within the narrative of mutual trade, but it seems striking that, and of course we won't have to remind listeners, that the US has made threats to Greenland, a NATO country, over what it sees as the Chinese and Russian threat in the Arctic. Are there not security concerns if Canada, its neighbour, starts getting closer with Beijing, even if only so far on a trade basis?
Thank you.
Well, it's interesting. Mark Carney was asked about this in his press conference today, and he said similar things to what you've heard from the likes of the Australian government and the British government, for that matter, that you can trade and you can have that sort of relationship and you can have these other areas where you completely disagree with one another. He spoke about these security guardrails. So, in other words, Canada and China, they can cooperate on renewable energy. They can have trade. And yet still... There'd be other areas where they frankly don't trust one another when it comes to cyber security or what have you. But then again, you know, these countries, I mean, do they also trust the Trump administration?
This is the problem when you're talking about things like. the US threatening invading Greenland, what Mark Carney also said is we're a NATO member. So, you know, they can't abide by the US making threats to a fellow NATO member. And Canada is supposedly the US's closest ally. So all of this is breaking down to tell the truth.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–1:00
2
What trade deal did Canada and China announce?
1:00–2:12
3
How might US tariffs influence Canada's trade relationships?
2:12–6:47
4
What is the significance of Taiwan's tech investment in the US?
6:47–8:06
5
What is Myanmar's defense against genocide charges?
8:06–9:07
6
How is the crackdown in Iran affecting protesters?
9:07–18:27
7
What happened to South Korea's former president Yoon Suk Yeol?
18:27–19:26
8
What are the implications of Morocco hosting the Africa Cup of Nations?
19:26–35:50
Speakers
6 identifiedMore from Global News Podcast
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