OTTAWA
Canada and China have extended a bilateral trade agreement by two years, securing market access for Canadian farm and seafood exports and Chinese steel and aluminum until the end of 2028.
Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu announced the extension on Wednesday, saying it provides stability for exporters.
"This extension gives Canadian farmers, producers and harvesters stable access to China and supports billions in export opportunities," Sidhu said in a news release.
The deal, first negotiated by Prime Minister Mark Carney and Chinese President Xi Jinping in January, was set to expire at the end of this year.
In March, China dropped tariffs on Canadian canola meal, peas, lobster and crab, while Canada agreed to allow in certain Chinese steel and aluminum products.
Sidhu said the credit for the extension goes to a joint economic and trade commission that Canada and China relaunched in January as Ottawa moved to increase exports to China by 50 per cent by 2030.
Since the arrangement took effect, canola seed exports to China have increased by 84 per cent, from $1.04 billion to $1.91 billion, compared to the same period last year, Sidhu said.
Canola meal exports more than doubled, from $146 million to $390 million, while pea exports grew from $107 million to $345 million, he said. Lobster exports increased by 57 per cent, from $128 million to $200 million.
Warren Kaeding, Saskatchewan's trade minister, told reporters in Regina that farmers are pleased with the deal.
"That helps so much in them being able to plan their cropping rotations into next year," he said. "(They're) going into the spring with a bit of confidence that they at least have a two-year extension on tariff reductions on canola and peas."
Canadian beef also returned to the Chinese market in January for the first time since 2021, said Sidhu. From January to August, Canada sent $363.2 million in beef exports to China, nearly double what it sold there in all of 2021.
Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson said on social media the extension provides "immediate certainty" for lobster and crab harvesters and exporters, adding that discussions are continuing on other seafood products.
The announcement comes as Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng prepares to visit Vancouver on Sunday and Monday, and ahead of Carney's planned trip to Shenzhen, China, later this month for the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation summit.
"The timing of the announcement is significant," said Vina Nadjibulla, co-founder of the Centre for Strategic Statecraft, in an emailed statement.
She said the clearing of "an immediate trade irritant" allows Carney to focus on boosting Chinese investment during his visit. It also locks in Chinese steel and aluminum access, which she said will be a factor in Ottawa's trade talks with Washington.
"Ottawa is increasingly having to handle its economic relationships with Beijing and Washington simultaneously, and decisions made in one relationship inevitably have implications for the other," she wrote.
Sidhu and Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne will welcome He in Vancouver, with events also planned with Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem and financial regulators.
China is Canada's second largest single-country merchandise trading partner, accounting for $125.7 billion in two-way merchandise trade in 2025.
The Carney government is seeking to double non-U.S. exports in the next decade in response to the unstable geopolitical and trading environment ushered in by the re-election of U.S. President Donald Trump. e2gold.ca reported this week that experts believe a Democratic Congress is unlikely to curb Trump's tariff powers.
Carney will travel to Shenzhen for the APEC summit later this month.
This story was written by the e2gold.ca newsroom from reporting by BNN Bloomberg and Forex Factory. Quotes are checked word for word against that reporting.