Canadian international trade minister Maninder Sidhu is in China from Tuesday to Friday to meet with his Chinese counterpart and represent Canada at a massive import expo.
In Beijing, Sidhu met with China’s Minister of Commerce, Wang Wentao, and announced a two-year extension to a deal allowing Canadian canola meal, peas, lobsters, and crab to enter China without anti-discrimination tariffs. The deal was initially set to expire on December 31, 2026.
Ottawa, in turn, will continue to allow certain Chinese steel and aluminum products to enter Canada tariff-free. No further announcements were made on Chinese electric vehicles.
Although the relationship has broadly recovered, bilateral trade is still complicated by other irritants. Just last month, the Canadian International Trade Tribunal found a reasonable indication that "the dumping and subsidizing" of paperboard cups and containers from China caused "injury" to Canadian industry. (This was also the case with Chinese exports of tires; inquiries into Chinese electrical cables, plywood, and steel racks are ongoing.)
Canada–China trade trends, however, are largely positive, with energy in particular accounting for an increasing share of Canadian exports to China since 2016.
Afterwards, in Shanghai, Sidhu was set to attend the China International Import Expo. Fifty-seven countries are expected to be represented this year; Canada is the "Guest Country of Honour." Canada was previously the guest of honour at the China International Consumer Products Expo in Haikou, Hainan, in April.
Agriculture minister Heath MacDonald was also in China this week. At least seven different Canadian ministers have travelled to China since October 2025.
