Canada holds back on US critical minerals trade bloc before CUSMA talks

CALGARY — Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand has said Canada will not immediately sign a US-led effort to create a preferential trade bloc for critical minerals, opting instead to preserve leverage ahead of upcoming North American trade negotiations.Anand told the CBC that Ottawa is wary of committing to new sector-specific or bespoke agreements with Washington as it prepares for the mandatory six-year review of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), scheduled to be completed by July.“Canada is only signing deals that are favourable to our economic and national security interests,” Anand said.“We're not looking to sign sector-by-sector deals, and we are looking forward to the comprehensive CUSMA review.”Entering into a new minerals pact now, she suggested, could weaken Canada’s negotiating position.“There is work to do. We are collaborative,” she said.“We're at the table with over 50 countries to ensure that we're stabilizing the supply chains for critical minerals together.”Her comments came after the US convened a Critical Minerals Ministerial in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, bringing together officials from more than 50 countries.The meeting was hosted by US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio..Canada signs deal with Germany on critical minerals .At the meeting, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the United States, the European Commission and Japan would work toward joint “action plans for critical minerals supply chain resilience,” aimed at reducing China’s dominance in materials essential to defence, automotive manufacturing and high-tech industries.Greer said recent supply disruptions have underscored vulnerabilities across allied economies.Central to the US proposal was the creation of coordinated trade mechanisms, including border-adjusted price floors for critical minerals.Vance said the plan would establish reference prices at each stage of production, maintained through adjustable tariffs for members of a proposed preferential trade zone.Greer said this framework could eventually support a binding agreement among “like-minded partners,” with a memorandum of understanding expected within 30 days.Canada, however, is taking a cautious approach — particularly to the idea of price floors, as the country is already involved with several international efforts on critical minerals such as the Forum on Resource Geo-strategic Engagement (FORGE), a multilateral initiative focused on global cooperation among producer and consumer countries.Anand said Ottawa needs greater clarity on how the American proposition would function and whether it would deliver clear economic and national-security benefits for Canada.“It's in Canada's interest to make sure that we maximize the returns to our country, and that's our position going into these meetings,” Anand stated, adding that “numerous countries” had thanked her and “thanked Canada for our leadership on the world stage, including in the area of critical mineral supply chains.”

Canada holds back on US critical minerals trade bloc before CUSMA talks

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