On local time October 23, Trump suddenly announced on social media that he would immediately terminate all trade negotiations with Canada, and the reason sounded somewhat absurd.

Because the Ontario provincial government of Canada released a "fraudulent advertisement," which took an unauthorized clip from former President Reagan's speech in 1987, distorting his attitude towards tariffs. This was also pointed out by the Reagan Foundation as "false use."

For this, Trump angrily called it a "despicable act" in his post, emphasizing that "tariffs are crucial for American security and economy." His implication is that Canada's actions not only offended the United States but also touched the bottom line of his trade policy.

However, Trump has always been skilled at using such tough and unexpected methods to control allies. He can raise tariffs at will and stop negotiations at any time, which may also be a way to pressure Canada.

At the same time that Trump announced the termination of US-Canada trade negotiations, the Canadian authorities also sent an unusual diplomatic signal to China.

On October 24, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Company, Prime Minister Trudeau is about to embark on an Asian tour. In addition to attending the ASEAN Leaders' Summit and the APEC Summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, the more important goal is to seek to establish a "strategic relationship" with China. Trudeau also hopes to meet with Chinese leaders during the APEC meeting.

However, some Canadian officials have revealed that if this meeting cannot be arranged, the G20 Summit in South Africa in November will be another important opportunity, revealing a rather urgent attitude.

Essentially, Canada is desperately trying to get close to China at this moment, which is mainly due to the pressure from the U.S. tariff policy and the pressure.

Canada's economy has long depended on the U.S. market, and the protectionist policies of the Trump administration have exposed the risks of this single dependency. Now, the termination of the US-Canada trade negotiations by Trump has further worsened Canada's economic situation.

In fact, as early as September, Trudeau met with high-level Chinese officials in New York, and both sides had agreed to maintain "highest-level contact."

In mid-October, Canada's Foreign Minister Anand made a special visit to China, discussing multilateral cooperation and trade cooperation with Wang Yi, the Foreign Minister of China.

Now, with the Asian trip, Trudeau obviously wants China to help Canada, but the key is whether Trudeau can show sincerity?

It should be noted that previously, Canada followed the United States in taking trade restrictions against China, imposing a 100% tariff on Chinese electric vehicles and a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum. In response, China imposed countermeasures on Canadian canola seeds and other agricultural products.

Currently, while the Trudeau government is reviewing the tariff on Chinese electric vehicles, it is not clear whether it can truly cancel it.

After all, Canada's current willingness to cooperate is more to offset the impact of U.S. tariffs, and it is even possible that they want to use China as a bargaining chip in negotiations with the United States.

Moreover, the improvement of Sino-Canadian relations has never been a one-sided "helping" from China, but rather a mutual choice based on equality and mutual benefit.

Canada cannot just think about opening up the market to China, but also refuse to correct its own wrong practices.

In fact, China's position has always been very clear. During the previous meeting between Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Minister Anand, he mentioned "excluding interference and rebuilding trust," and deliberately extended the investigation period for the anti-dumping of canola seeds until March 2026, which itself leaves enough space for negotiation between the two sides.

For China, developing practical cooperation with Canada is not impossible. Trudeau has also publicly expressed optimism about exporting more liquefied natural gas to China and hopes to expand agricultural cooperation. However, the threshold for cooperation has always been there.

For example, Canada needs to quickly cancel the unreasonable tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, steel and aluminum, provide a fair and impartial market environment for Chinese companies investing in Canada, and not change its mind again later.

In short, international cooperation can't succeed with a last-minute effort. Only by showing real actions and abandoning the opportunistic mentality of wanting to profit from the Chinese market while being vague on issues of interest can there be a possibility of cooperation.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7564670227582157350/

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