As tariff conflicts between the United States and Canada intensify, a Chinese expert has suggested that economic and trade cooperation between Canada and China is likely to expand as Canada seeks to lower its trade dependency on the United States.

On the 26th, Liu Feng, a senior economist at the International Green Finance Research Institute of the Central University of Finance and Economics in China, stated in an opinion piece for the local economic media outlet Yicai that the tariff conflict between the US and Canada "provides room to expand economic and trade relations between China and Canada."

Following the breakdown of trade negotiations between the US and Canada, the US began imposing a 50 percent tariff on approximately 20 billion dollars, or about 27.6 trillion won, worth of Canadian imports starting on the 22nd, local time.

In response, Canada announced it would impose retaliatory tariffs on US products of an equivalent scale, escalating trade tensions between the two nations.

Economist Liu noted that this conflict goes beyond a simple tariff dispute, serving as an opportunity for Canada to move away from the US-centric trade structure and diversify its trading partners.

According to the opinion piece, Canada's trade dependency on the US remains high but has been on a downward trend recently.

Last year, the proportion of US-bound exports among Canada's commodity exports stood at 71.7 percent, down 4.2 percentage points from 75.9 percent in 2024.

The proportion of imports from the US also dropped from 62.3 percent to 58.8 percent over the same period.

Conversely, Canada's exports to countries other than the US increased by 17.2 percent last year, and imports rose by 12.4 percent, according to statistics.

Economist Liu evaluated that if the conflict with the US prolongs, China could emerge as one of the major alternative markets in Canada's trade diversification process, and that the trade structures of the two countries possess considerable complementarity.

He explained, "China needs energy, minerals, and agricultural products in which Canada holds strengths, and Canada can become a major market for Chinese manufactured goods, so the main traded items of the two countries do not overlap significantly."

In fact, last year's major Chinese imports from Canada included precious metals at 79.3 billion yuan (approx. 16.3 trillion won), mineral fuels at 76.7 billion yuan (approx. 15.8 trillion won), ores and slag at 34.2 billion yuan (approx. 7 trillion won), wood pulp at 15.2 billion yuan (approx. 3.1 trillion won), and oilseeds at 13.8 billion yuan (approx. 2.8 trillion won).

Conversely, it was found that China mainly exported manufactured goods such as machinery, electrical and electronic products, furniture, plastic products, and automobiles to Canada.

The observation is also supported by the fact that Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney visited China last January to sign a roadmap for economic and trade cooperation with the Chinese side, improving bilateral relations.

At the time, the Canadian prime minister's visit to China was the first since 2017.

Since then, Canada has adjusted its tariff measures on Chinese electric vehicles, steel, and aluminum products, and both countries are continuing consultations on major trade issues such as agricultural products and electric vehicles.

Economist Liu argued that continuous policy efforts from the Canadian side are necessary for future cooperation expansion, and that China also needs to review practical measures in areas such as market access for Canadian agricultural products and investment convenience.

He further predicted that because the industrial and energy supply chains between the US and Canada are closely linked, a "managed distancing" in which Canada gradually lowers its dependency on the US is most likely to take place rather than a complete economic severance.

The Chinese government expressed a principled stance that "dialogue" is important regarding the friction between the US and Canada.

During a regular briefing on this day, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian, when asked, "What is China's view on Canada's retaliatory tariffs, and do you have any advice for other countries that need to respond to President Trump's tariff wars?", gave no direct answer, stating, "China has consistently maintained that all countries should resolve their respective economic and trade concerns through equal dialogue and negotiation."

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)