Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe met with Prime Minister Mark Carney and canola industry leaders in Ottawa on Tuesday to discuss international trade disputes and China’s canola tariffs.
Moe described the meeting as “good and informative” and a chance to lobby for increased international market access for Saskatchewan canola and other exports.
“There’s not a lot of confidence in trade certainty moving forward for any country right now,” Moe told reporters after the meeting.
“We’re going to work alongside our federal government … in ensuring that Canada’s interests are well represented at that table.”
Last week, Moe led a trade mission to China to make the case for Canadian canola. China has imposed a 76 per cent tariff on Canadian canola seed — widely seen as a response to Canada’s 100 per cent tariff on Chinese electric vehicles.
When asked if he thinks Canada should drop the tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, Moe said the situation “is not as simple as that,” but it’s important Ottawa finds a solution that works for all of Canada.
“Here’s the dance that I think all countries are finding themselves in, and it’s a sensitive and a delicate dance: decisions that you make here will have an indirect impact on your relationship with another country,” Moe said.
In pre-meeting remarks to reporters, Carney said Moe’s contributions to high-level discussions during recent trade disputes “have been essential to getting us together and moving us forward.”
Carney did not speak with reporters after the meeting.
Sask. Premier Scott Moe on meeting with Prime Minister Carney
The prime minister also chaired a cabinet meeting in the morning before sitting down in the afternoon with Moe and canola industry representatives.
Carney and Moe were joined by Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Heath MacDonald, Minister of International Trade Maninder Sidhu, Secretary of State for Rural Development Buckley Belanger and Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister Kody Blois.
Moe and Blois were in China earlier this month to meet with officials who oversee tariffs on Canadian canola, the international trade negotiator with China’s ministry of commerce and other industry officials.
Beijing has also imposed a 100 per cent tariff on Canadian canola oil, meal and peas, and other levies on pork and some seafood products, in response to Canada’s 25 per cent tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum.
The meetings come as Carney prepares to travel to Mexico on Thursday as part of a push to deepen ties with a key trading partner.
His office officially announced the trip Tuesday and confirmed the prime minister would meet with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum to talk security, infrastructure, investment, energy and trade.
