Carney announced the extraordinary plan in a rare prime-time speech on Wednesday, sticking to his election campaign promise of making Canada less reliant on the US, which currently buys about 75 per cent of Canadian exports.
“Many of our former strengths, based on close ties to America, have become our vulnerabilities,” Carney said. The prime minister emphasised boosting trade ties with countries like India and China.
He said, "And we are re-engaging with the global giants India and China while we deepen our partnerships with traditional allies."
India-Canada ties
India and Canada and moving towards rebooting ties after last year's fiasco under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Last week, Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, with both countries underscoring a renewed commitment to strengthen bilateral ties in trade, energy, technology, agriculture, and people-to-people exchanges.
According to a release from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), PM Modi welcomed Anand and emphasised that her visit would bring “new momentum” to the India-Canada partnership.
Recalling his June 2025 visit to Canada for the G7 Summit, PM Modi said his meeting with PM Carney was “extremely productive” and laid the groundwork for deepening collaboration.
Trump tariffs on Canada
In August, Trump’s 35 per cent tariffs on Canadian exports took effect, and now the president has announced 25 per cent tariffs on heavy trucks starting November 1.
Canada is the second-largest US trading partner after Mexico, and the largest buyer of US exports. It bought $349.4 billion of US goods last year and exported $412.7 billion to the US, according to US Census Bureau data.
Canada’s national statistical agency has said that trade with its neighbour to the south withered in May in the wake of a punishing tariff war launched by Trump. However, Canada made up part of the shortfall with increased shipments to other nations.
