B.C. Premier David Eby, who is on a 10-day trade mission to East Asia, said that Japanese conglomerates have expressed interest in the province’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) and critical mineral exports amid an uncertain global trade market.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s increasingly protectionist stance and tariff threats have led the province to look at diversifying its trade relationships, given how much it historically relied on the U.S. as a trade partner.
Eby’s trip to Japan, South Korea and Malaysia is part of that effort, with the premier looking to sell investors and governments on the province’s mining, natural resource and softwood lumber sectors.
Speaking to reporters from Osaka, Japan, on Tuesday afternoon, the premier said that Japanese conglomerates like Mitsubishi and Nippon Steel displayed a keen awareness of the province’s copper and nickel exports in meetings.
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“These companies have taken stakes in projects in British Columbia, and they wanted to know about our plans for electrification, the North Coast Transmission Line, our support for the mining sector, permitting issues, how we’re working with First Nations,” Eby told reporters.
“And so it was a very useful discussion for a group that was incredibly knowledgeable about British Columbia.”
Eby said that the companies and investors he’s spoken to also expressed interest in the $40B LNG Canada project located out of Kitimat, B.C., which only recently came online and is expected to export 14 million tonnes of natural gas a year.
“The [Japanese] government just released a new energy plan where they’re phasing out and reducing reliance on heavy oil,” Eby said. “They are looking to natural gas as a significant bridging fuel, as well as having discussions about the expansion of nuclear here.
“But they remain very committed to carbon pollution reduction, remain committed to addressing climate change, and they do see the LNG Canada project as a significant part of their overall strategy.”
At the first ministers’ meeting in Saskatoon with Prime Minister Mark Carney — which is being attended by Deputy Premier Niki Sharma instead of Eby — both Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith pushed the idea of a new pipeline that brings western oil to the northern coast of B.C.
A previously proposed pipeline met resistance from communities along the project’s route and was effectively killed when the federal government announced a moratorium on oil tankers along the North Coast in 2016.
When asked about the project, Eby said that he didn’t support lifting the tanker ban along the North Coast, and said his government supported the existing taxpayer-owned Trans Mountain Pipeline instead.
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“It’s not my job to come in and tell Premier Ford that it’s extremely unlikely that there will be a tunnel built under the 401 [highway],” Eby said.
“It’s not my job to come in and tell Premier Smith that her vision for North Coast pipeline is many, many years off.”
Eby also said that Trump’s threats of doubling the tariff on steel and aluminum to 50 per cent by midnight ET on Tuesday would be devastating for both Canadian and Japanese businesses.
“The metallurgical coal that’s produced in British Columbia for steel-making is much lower carbon than the metallurgical coal that’s produced in other parts of the world. It’s a priority for Nippon Steel,” the premier said.
“Obviously, when we have a major customer for anthracite from British Columbia impacted by these tariffs, that’s a concern for us.”
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The premier said that the federal government should prioritize removing internal trade barriers and prioritize the flow of goods across the country, in response to Trump’s tariff threats.
In Osaka, Eby is next set to meet with forestry companies and attend an expo featuring products made in B.C.
Even as Eby continues to paint his Asian trade mission as a positive one for the province’s economy, the Opposition B.C. Conservatives blasted the mission as a “damage control junket.”
In a statement, Teresa Wat, the Opposition trade critic, said the NDP government had shut down 13 trade offices in seven Asian countries in 2019, meaning the province was now building trade relationships from the ground up.
“If this B.C. NDP government had not shut down 13 freestanding trade offices, we would not have to play catch-up when we are facing constant threats of increased U.S. tariffs,” Wat said in the statement.
Eby and the rest of the B.C. delegation is set to return to B.C. on June 10.
