Prime Minister Mark Carney has done something rare in modern trade politics: he picked a fight, took a hit, and then negotiated a settlement that actually improves Canada’s position.The agreement reached in Beijing is not a surrender to China. It is a practical trade reset that restores access for Canadian farm exports while keeping guardrails around the electric vehicle (EV) file. In a world where tariff battles often drag on for years, Carney moved quickly, stayed focused, and delivered results.This dispute did not begin in a vacuum. In 2024, Ottawa imposed a 100% surtax on Chinese-made EVs, effective October 1, 2024, following similar action by the United States. Canada also tightened trade measures around steel and aluminum tied to Chinese-origin materials in 2025..Canada, China strike trade deal reducing canola, pork, seafood, EV tariffs.China’s retaliation was targeted and brutal: tariffs that slammed the door on canola and other exports, plus heavy duties on pork and seafood. The Canola Council has been blunt about how quickly Beijing can choke off sales when it wants leverage.For Saskatchewan farmers and the wider agriculture sector, this was never an abstract policy debate. Canola is a cornerstone of the rural economy. The Canadian Canola Growers Association notes canola exports totalled $14.5 billion in 2024, with roughly 90% of production shipped abroad in one form or another. When China effectively shut the gate, the pressure landed on producers, rail lines, crush plants, and small-town paycheques.Carney’s breakthrough is the tariff trade-off. Canada will move away from a blunt 100% wall on Chinese EVs and instead use a tariff-rate quota. Under the deal, up to 49,000 Chinese EVs a year will be allowed in at about 6.1%, with the quota rising over time. That figure matters: 6.1% is not a random giveaway. It aligns with Canada’s normal “most-favoured nation” tariff for vehicles, which is why the earlier 100% surtax was so punitive in the first place..On the other side of the ledger is where the win sits for Western Canada. Canada expects China to lower its combined tariff on canola seed to about 15% by March 1, 2026, down from roughly 84%. Ottawa’s own backgrounder says this improves market access for about $4 billion in canola seed exports annually.That is not a photo-op number. That is real money, tied to real contracts, in a sector that cannot simply “find another China” overnight.The deal also rolls back discriminatory tariffs on other products hammered in the retaliation cycle, including canola meal, peas, and major seafood categories. That should matter to Atlantic exporters as much as Prairie growers. Pork producers, who took the 25% hit, get breathing room as well..Ford slams Carney-China deal; says it puts Canadian workers at risk.Critics will argue Canada is rewarding bad behaviour. It is a fair concern. Beijing used tariffs as a weapon, and it will do it again if it thinks the price is right. But the hard truth is that trade is not a morality play. It is leverage, timing, and outcomes. Carney faced a choice: dig in and let farmers bleed for years, or bargain for access and build a more durable set of terms.He chose bargaining, and he did it without opening the floodgates.Allowing 49,000 Chinese EVs annually does not “wipe out” Canadian auto jobs. It creates a limited channel that holds market share in check while giving consumers more competition at the dealership. There was a predictable reaction from Washington — calling the move “problematic” — but that is precisely why Canada needs to act in Canada’s interest, not as an echo of American politics..There is another piece of this story that deserves more attention: Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe.Moe did not solve the dispute alone. Ottawa signed the paper. But Moe helped create the runway Carney needed. When canola seed was slapped with 75.8% duties in 2025, Moe publicly moved toward direct engagement, planning travel to China to push for relief. At the time, China was Canada’s biggest canola market, and the duties could “all but end” exports if left in place. Saskatchewan’s own government also framed its Asia missions as essential to protecting a multibillion-dollar trade relationship.That matters because diplomacy is often relationship maintenance, not dramatic speeches. Moe’s repeated engagement signalled seriousness, kept channels open, and gave Ottawa a provincial partner who could speak credibly about what was at stake on the ground..BORG: From snow-covered roads to closed schools, the storm that stopped Toronto cold.Carney will still need to watch the fine print. Enforcement, timelines, and verification will decide whether this deal holds. Canada must also keep security and foreign interference concerns front and centre, because trade cannot become an excuse for naivety.Still, on the core test — protecting Canadian livelihoods while lowering the temperature on a damaging tariff war — Carney delivered. Farmers get their market back. Consumers get more choice. Canada gets breathing room to build a trade policy that is tough, targeted, and realistic.That is what competent government looks like.
