US and Canada drift apart on China as Ottawa rethinks Beijing ties

Look for the US and Canada to move farther apart on China policy, even in areas where they were previously aligned, analysts say, days after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a multifaceted deal with Beijing.In recent years, Washington and Ottawa had drawn closer together when it came to dealing with Beijing, from electric vehicle tariffs and research security to investment screening.But that convergence is now fraying, analysts say, as Canada signals a greater willingness to pursue engagement with China even where it risks diverging from US preferences.“Clearly the message from Carney … is that we are going to try to put things in place for working with China directly, even when some of those seem to contradict American interests and perspectives,” said Paul Evans, professor emeritus at the University of British Columbia.Last Friday, Carney and Chinese President Xi Jinping announced a preliminary deal that paired trade concessions – including lower-tariff access for a quota of Chinese electric vehicles in exchange for relief on Canadian agricultural exports such as canola – with the restoration of previously suspended communication channels.It also set up a series of new dialogues, including on finance and energy, opened a pathway to future Chinese energy investment in Canada and loosened restrictions on people-to-people exchange.Speaking in Beijing last week on the first visit by a Canadian prime minister since 2017, Carney called China a more “predictable” partner than Washington and said that the two countries had entered a “new strategic partnership”.