Canada is also pushing to diversify its exports and set itself a target in 2018 of increasing non-US exports by 50 per cent by 2025. Ng said the country was on track to meet or exceed the target.
Canada struck trade deals with Indonesia in December and Ecuador last week and is pushing hard in the Indo-Pacific region. The minister is leading a delegation including more than 200 businesses to Australia, Singapore and Brunei next week.
“We are at the table with the countries in Southeast Asia, so the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. I took a very large delegation of Canadian businesses to the Philippines in December, to Indonesia, to markets like Vietnam, Malaysia, Japan, Korea,” Ng added.
Ottawa threatened retaliatory duties and legal action against the United States after President Donald Trump announced tariffs on Canada and Mexico a week ago and before he paused their imposition for 30 days. Ng said Canada could challenge Washington at the WTO if tariffs were imposed.
“We would consider all of the options are available to Canada because Canada is country that believes in a rules-based trading system,” Ng said.
