Beijing: China said on Monday that a preliminary trade deal with Canada “does not target any third parties” after the United States threatened to impose 100-percent tariffs on Canadian products if the agreement were finalised.
Under the deal, announced this month, Beijing is expected to reduce tariffs on Canadian canola imports and grant Canadians visa-free travel to China.
But over the weekend, the United States — Canada’s traditional ally — threatened to impose 100-percent tariffs on Canadian products if the deal were to go ahead, saying it would allow China to “dump goods”.
China’s foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said on Monday that the trade deal was not aimed at Washington.
“China and Canada have established a new type of strategic partnership… it does not target any third party,” China’s foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a regular press conference.
“China advocates that nations should approach state-to-state relations with a win-win rather than zero-sum mindset, and through cooperation rather than confrontation,” he added.
The deal was announced during Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s visit to Beijing this month, as he seeks to distance himself from a volatile United States under President Donald Trump.
Canada and the United States have been caught in a trade war since the Trump administration imposed import duties on its northern neighbour.
On Sunday, Trump wrote on social media that negotiations between Ottawa and Beijing amounted to China “successfully and completely taking over the once Great Country of Canada”.
Following the president’s comments, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told US media that “we can’t let Canada become an opening that the Chinese pour their cheap goods into the US”.