China seeks improved ties with Canada amid rising trade tensions
BEIJING: China called on Friday (Jun 6) for steps to improve bilateral ties with Canada, saying there were no deep-seated conflicts of interest, following a spike in trade tensions with many of Beijing's Western trade partners this year.
China is willing to work with Canada to put ties on a healthy and stable path and find solutions to address each other's concerns through enhanced dialogue, Premier Li Qiang told Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in a phone call on Friday, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.
"There is no fundamental conflict of interests between the two countries," Li said.
Li's talks with Carney followed a highly anticipated phone call between United States President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday, which Trump said led to "a very positive conclusion" and offered hope the trade war between the world's two largest economies might start to de-escalate.
As the effects of trade frictions start to make their way into the already soft Chinese economy, Beijing has stepped up engagement with other countries to alleviate friction despite earlier retaliation.
In March, Beijing announced tariffs on over US$2.6 billion worth of Canadian agricultural and food products in retaliation for Ottawa's levies on Chinese electric vehicles and steel and aluminium products introduced in October.
Beijing has also launched an anti-dumping investigation into Canadian canola that is set to conclude in September.
Canola, also known as rapeseed, was one of Canada's top exports to China, the world's No.1 agricultural importer, prior to Beijing's investigation.
"The two governments should listen to and respond to the people's calls and do more to deepen the friendly cooperation and enhance mutual understanding and trust," Li told Carney.
China is Canada's second-largest trading partner, trailing far behind the US. Canada exported US$47 billion worth of goods to the world's second-largest economy in 2024, according to Chinese customs data.
Beijing is also willing to work with Canada to safeguard multilateralism and free trade, Li added.
Beijing's olive branch to Ottawa also comes ahead of a Group of Seven summit of leaders in Canada in mid-June.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNA
43 minutes ago
- CNA
Commentary: Tesla is being eaten alive by Chinese rivals it inspired
NEW YORK: The biggest story swirling around Tesla right now concerns chief executive Elon Musk's sudden, if unsurprising, break with a leader who is as calm and unassuming as he is, President Donald Trump. The important story concerns what is happening far from these shores: China. Shipments from Tesla's Shanghai factory fell by 15 per cent in May compared with a year before, according to preliminary data from China's Passenger Car Association. That marks eight straight months of declining output from Tesla's single biggest electric vehicle factory, accounting for around 40 per cent of its global capacity. These figures don't break out which of those EVs get sold in China or get exported from there, but this trend is not Tesla's friend. Through April, its share of China's battery EV market had fallen by more than half over the past four years, according to data compiled by New AutoMotive, a UK-based research firm. DETERIORATING ECONOMICS The numbers also suggest deteriorating economics. On a simple, calendar-day basis, they imply Shanghai factory utilisation of 76 per cent in May. That isn't terrible, but it's down significantly from last May. So far this year, excluding the month of February when Tesla was retooling for the refreshed Model Y, implied utilisation is running 10 points lower than the same period in 2024. Speaking of that updated Model Y, it isn't a good sign that Tesla has already offered incentives like zero-per cent financing in China. Taken together, lower capacity utilisation, implying higher fixed costs per vehicle and higher discounts, meaning less net revenue, point to a continuing problem with what was all too apparent in Tesla's first-quarter results: crushed profit margins in its main business. Unlike Tesla's weaker EV sales in other important markets such as California and Europe, the slide in China has nothing to do with Musk's politics. Tesla's reputation within China remains high, viewed as an essential catalyst in revolutionising the quality and scale of the country's auto sector. NOT A CATALYST, BUT A REACTANT Except that "catalyst" isn't quite the right word, because the beauty of catalysts is that they spark transformations but don't get used up in the process. In this case, it would be more accurate to call Tesla a reactant, because the domestic Chinese EV industry spurred on by its example is now eating it alive. While Tesla's share of China's battery EV sales is down to about 10 per cent so far this year, that drops to 5.8 per cent when you include other so-called 'new energy vehicles' (NEV) such as plug-in hybrids, according to figures compiled by Goldman Sachs Group. Competitors including BYD, which holds about 27 per cent of China's NEV market, are now delivering the sort of excitement that Tesla used to in terms of looks, range and driver assistance features – and at lower prices. Xiaomi, the smartphone maker, is in the process of launching the YU7, a high-tech, fast-charging electric SUV that resembles a Porsche or Ferrari but is perhaps best pictured as a Model Y-seeking missile. In an alternate dimension, China would serve as a hothouse laboratory for Tesla to hone world beating, profitable EVs that might even be exported to its home market. In the dimension we've got, Musk has seemingly lost his ambition to develop brand new, affordable EVs that can compete across the world. AN ERODED POSITION Tesla's last genuinely new model, the Cybertruck, is certainly big but only about as 'beautiful' as the Trump tax Bill that Musk now openly derides as an ' abomination '. While Tesla sits apart from the legacy automakers in the US, Germany and Japan in many respects – certainly in terms of valuation – it has, like them, seen its position in China eroded rapidly. And regardless of Musk's latest posts on X, he worked hard to secure the election of a president and Congressional majority intent on crushing EV sales in the US. With the end of the second quarter approaching, and the sales figures emanating from China and Europe portending another set of weak earnings, it is perhaps little wonder that this narrative is crowded out by all manner of other things. Musk, who ditched Tesla's public relations team and routinely denounces the media as 'propaganda' has nonetheless plunged into a media blitz of late, and has now whipped up a new political intrigue. Is the break with Trump real? My litmus test: watch out if @elonmusk posts a picture of a taco. Plus, of course, we have the imminent launch of Tesla's self-driving cars in Austin. Whatever they actually turn out to be, with the always dubious narrative of Musk's White House job boosting Tesla's fortunes now played out, those robotaxis constitute the main pillar supporting Tesla's triple-digit earnings multiple.
CNA
2 hours ago
- CNA
South Korea's Lee, Trump agree to work towards swift tariff deal, Lee's office says
SEOUL/WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump and South Korea's new president Lee Jae-myung agreed to work toward a swift tariff deal in their first phone call since Lee was elected this week, Lee's office said on Friday (Jun 6). Trump has imposed tariffs on South Korea, a long time ally with which it has a bilateral free trade deal, and pressed it to pay more for the 28,500 US troops stationed there. Separately, Trump allies have aired concerns about Lee's more conciliatory stance towards China, Washington's main geopolitical rival. Lee, a liberal, was elected on Jun 3 after former conservative leader, Yoon Suk Yeol, was impeached and ousted. The future of South Korea's export-oriented economy may hinge on what kind of deal Lee can strike with Trump, with all of his country's key sectors from chips to autos and shipbuilding heavily exposed to global trade. His term began on Wednesday. "The two presidents agreed to make an effort to reach a satisfactory agreement on tariff consultations as soon as possible that both countries can be satisfied with," Lee's office said in a statement. "To this end, they decided to encourage working-level negotiations to yield tangible results." Trump invited Lee to a summit in the US and they plan to meet soon, according to a White House official. Analysts say the first opportunity for the two to meet could be at a G7 summit in Canada in mid-June. Lee's office said the two leaders also discussed the assassination attempts they both experienced last year as well as their enthusiasm for golf. Lee underwent surgery after he was stabbed in the neck by a man in January last year, while Trump was wounded in the ear by a bullet fired by a would-be assassin in July. South Korea, a major US ally and one of the first countries after Japan to engage with Washington on trade talks, agreed in late April to craft a "July package" scrapping levies before the 90-day pause on Trump's reciprocal tariffs is lifted, but progress was disrupted by the change of governments in Seoul. Lee said on the eve of the elections that "the most pressing matter is trade negotiations with the United States." Lee's camp has said, however, that they intend to seek more time to negotiate on trade with Trump. While reiterating the importance of the US-South Korea alliance, Lee has also expressed more conciliatory plans for ties with China and North Korea, singling out the importance of China as a major trading partner while indicating a reluctance to take a firm stance on security tensions in the Taiwan Strait. Political analysts say that while Trump and Lee may share a desire to try to re-engage with North Korea, Lee's stance on China could cause friction with the US. A White House official said this week that South Korea's election was fair, but expressed concern about Chinese interference in what analysts said may have been a cautionary message to Lee. Speaking in Singapore last week, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said many countries were tempted by the idea of seeking economic cooperation with China and defense cooperation with the United States, and warned that such entanglement complicated defense cooperation.
CNA
4 hours ago
- CNA
US, China to hold trade talks on June 9 in London, Trump says
US President Trump on Friday (Jun 6) said three of his cabinet officials will meet with representatives of China in London on Jun 9 to discuss a trade deal. In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said Treasury Scott Bessent, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, and United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will attend from the US side. "The meeting should go very well," Trump wrote. The scheduling of the meeting comes a day after Trump spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping in a rare leader-to-leader call amid weeks of brewing trade tensions and a battle over critical minerals. The countries struck a 90-day deal on May 12 to roll back some of the triple-digit, tit-for-tat tariffs they had placed on each other since Trump's January inauguration. Though stocks rallied, the temporary deal did not address broader concerns that strain the bilateral relationship, from the illicit fentanyl trade to the status of democratically governed Taiwan and US complaints about China's state-dominated, export-driven economic model.
