The Russian invasion of Ukraine shows that authoritarian regimes are not reliable trade partners and future supply chains should run through countries like Canada that are concerned about carbon emissions and human rights, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Wednesday.
Trudeau late last month returned from an official trip to the G20 and other summits in Asia, where he pitched Canada as a dependable global supplier of critical minerals and energy.
Canada on Sunday also launched an Indo-Pacific strategy meant to counter Chinese power in the region.
Photo: REUTERS
“What we’re focused on now is very much ensuring that our economies — our open, free economies — don’t rely on authoritarian leaders like [Russian President] Vladimir Putin,” Trudeau said in an interview at the Reuters Next conference, which took place on Wednesday and yesterday.
Europe has quickly pivoted away from Russian energy, Trudeau said, adding that countries should be looking for alternate suppliers, such as Canada, that have “high environmental standards” and respect for human and labor rights.
China now dominates the critical mineral portion of the electric vehicle supply chain, he said.
In the past few months, Canada has also been reminding its top trading partner, the US, of its value as a neighbor, Trudeau said.
“Protectionism against Canadian investors or Canadian companies actually ends up hurting US companies and US workers in significant ways,” Trudeau said when asked if he was concerned about protectionism again being an issue in the 2024 US presidential election.
Trudeau also said he stands with protesters in China who are demonstrating against the world’s toughest COVID-19 restrictions, after reports of clashes between police and protesters in Guangzhou.
“We of course stand with those protesters,” Trudeau said, adding that his government was watching “very closely” the protests unfolding in China.
“It’s really important that citizens be able to make themselves heard,” he said.
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