Canada's trade pitch to Asia hits a wall
Carney himself has routinely boasted that Canada has the best U.S. trade deal of any country through CUSMA, but Asian countries invested in Canada may also lose such access if Ottawa does.
Ottawa is pitching Canada as a gateway for Asian investment, but that message is losing traction. For decades, companies invested in Canada not just for its domestic market, but for guaranteed access to the United States through trade deals such as CUSMA.
Now, with that access increasingly uncertain, foreign investors may start asking a simple question: why invest in Canada if preferential access to the U.S. market is no longer part of the deal?
Prime Minister Mark Carney has made several trips to Asia over the past year, with another planned for Japan later this month, in an effort to diversify Canada’s trade away from the United States.
However, much of the appeal of investing in Canada for Asian countries has been proximity and access to the U.S. market. Some companies may be in for a rude awakening if Canadian access to that market is no longer guaranteed.
