Prime Minister Mark Carney's new approach to Canada's foreign policy can perhaps be distilled in one line: We take the world as it is, not as we wish it to be.
That was his response when asked about the deal struck with China on Friday, despite concerns over its human rights record and nearly a year after he called China the biggest security threat facing Canada.
The deal will see Canada ease tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles that it imposed in tandem with the US in 2024. In exchange, China will lower retaliatory tariffs on key Canadian agricultural products.
Experts told the BBC the move represents a significant shift in Canada's policy on China, one that is shaped by ongoing uncertainty with the US, its largest trade partner.
The prime minister is saying, essentially, that Canada has agency too, and that it's not going to just sit and wait for the United States, said Eric Miller, a Washington DC based trade adviser and president of the Rideau Potomac Strategy Group.
Carney told reporters on Friday that the world has changed in recent years, and the progress made with China sets Canada up well for the new world order.
Canada's relationship with China, he added, had become more predictable than its relationship with the US under the Trump administration.
In Canada, as daylight broke on Friday, reaction to the deal was swift. Some, like Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, hailed it as very good news. Farmers in Moe's province have been hard hit by China's retaliatory tariffs on Canadian canola oil, and the deal, he said, would bring much needed relief.
But Ontario Premier Doug Ford, whose province is home to Canada's auto sector, was sharply critical of the deal. He said removing EV tariffs on China would hurt our economy and lead to job losses.
The deal with China drops Canada's levies on Chinese EVs from 100% to 6.1% for the first 49,000 vehicles imported each year. That quota could rise, Carney said, reaching 70,000 in half a decade.
Canada and the US put levies on Chinese EVs in 2024, arguing that China was overproducing vehicles and undermining the ability of other countries to compete.
In exchange, China will cut tariffs on Canadian canola seed to around 15% by March 1, down from 84%. China has also agreed to remove tariffs on Canadian canola meal, lobsters, crabs and peas until at least the end of the year.
The introduction of Chinese EVs to Canada's market will likely mean cheaper prices for Canadian consumers. However, there's concern that the deal may undermine local auto manufacturers without further governmental action to support the domestic sector.
Trump himself has signalled openness to China building plants in the US if it means creating more jobs for Americans, despite his tough-on-China stance.
For Carney, though, Friday's deal may just be the first step in a recalibration of Canada's trade relations.
