In a recent address to the foreign-affairs committee, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney sent an unusually upbeat signal toward Beijing—a stark contrast to his declaration during April’s election campaign that China is Canada’s “greatest threat.”

       Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly has also announced an imminent visit to China, saying she wants to improve bilateral ties and explore potential cooperation on trade and other issues.

  Beijing hit back instantly: 100 % tariffs  

       Behind Ottawa’s change of tone lies a string of economic headaches. Last year Canada lined up behind Washington’s Indo-Pacific strategy and slapped a series of discriminatory duties on Chinese goods:

• 100 % on Chinese-made EVs

• 25 % on Chinese steel (while U.S. steel was let off the hook)

• Plans to extend tariffs to Chinese batteries, semiconductors and other high-tech products

China answered within weeks:

100 % duties on Canadian canola oil and peas

25 % on seafood and pork

An anti-dumping finding that forces Canadian canola exporters to post provisional deposits of up to 75.8 %

  Cabinet ministers queue for Beijing flights  

       The Globe and Mail reports that after Beijing imposed the cash-deposit requirement, Canadian canola lost its US$4.9-billion-a-year No. 2 global market overnight; 40,000 growers in Western Canada are out tens of thousands of dollars each. Prairie premiers are pressing Ottawa to remove the EV tariff so China will lift the canola levies.

       On 1 September Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe led a delegation to Beijing asking for the duties to be scrapped. Liberal MP and delegation member Blaine Calkins says more federal ministers will follow to “create space to de-escalate.”

       Carney’s softer rhetoric is not a sudden change of heart but a realpolitik adjustment. Canada’s China policy is now caught between “co-operation” and “hedging,” reflecting Ottawa’s awkward spot between U.S. alliance politics and its own farm-dependent export economy.

       For the Carney government the choice is painful: stay in step with Washington on EV defence or protect canola and agriculture that rely on the Chinese market. Hence minister-level visits may become routine diplomatic maintenance to balance the two relationships.

       Beijing’s position has never wavered: the door to dialogue is always open—provided Canada shows concrete deeds. “Correct perception of China” starts with scrapping discriminatory tariffs. International trade is about mutual benefit, not one-sided pressure and capitulation.