Canada pushes Philippines, ASEAN trade deals toward November finish
Trade Minister Sidhu says negotiations are 90% complete ahead of PM Carney's Manila visit.
What to know
- Canada's trade minister says negotiations with Philippines and ASEAN are 90% complete, targeting November completion before PM Carney's Manila visit.
- Canada positioning energy exports (LNG) and data centre investment as core trade offerings to help Southeast Asia diversify from China and secure energy supplies.
- Sidhu frames diversification as long-standing strategy independent of US policy shifts, though Reddit commenters see it as a response to shifting US-Canada trade reliability.
Geographic and market proximity to the US has made it the natural primary trade partner, but political unreliability now justifies costly diversification.
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“In the last 100 years, no American president has treated Canada with hostility… But now we know that we can't trust the US.”
canada_mountains · Reddit ↗
Market forces and shipping costs make US trade relationships the path of least resistance; diversification requires overcoming real economic gravity.
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“Free Market economies will tend to flow towards the easiest revenue. The US-Canada shipping proximity means that this is the most likely outcome provided there are no artificial barriers.”
troyunrau · Reddit ↗
Philippines and Southeast Asia offer genuine trade opportunities in agricultural products and specialty goods Canada lacks.
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“Tons, actually. Ube for one thing - most ube comes from the Philippines and there's definitely a shortage. As mentioned above, other agricultural products such as coconuts, rice, mangoes, etc.”
dotmiko · Reddit ↗
Maninder Sidhu Canada's Trade Minister
Mark Carney Canadian Prime Minister
How it unfolded 2 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump articlespostscomments
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Sidhu positions LNG and data centres as Canada's key trade offerings
Sidhu highlighted Canada's five LNG projects on its Pacific coast and emerging data centre investment opportunities as critical assets for Southeast Asian diversification amid energy security concerns and AI demand.
“There's energy from both sides to get a deal done, and that's the most important part.”
— Maninder Sidhu, Canada's Trade Minister · source -
Hey! A question I’m actually qualified to answer lol. Tons, actually. Ube for one thing - most ube comes from the Philippines and there’s definitely a shortage. As mentioned above, other agricultural products such as coconuts, rice, mangoes, etc. As for what they want from us, surprisingly a few things. Pork being one! Certain cuts are a delicacy…
2 more of the top 3 · 3 posts in this stretch
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Free Market economies will tend to flow towards the easiest revenue. The US-Canada shipping proximity means that this is the most likely outcome provided there are no artificial barriers. Source: I run a scientific equipment company out of Winnipeg. Aside from our Canadian customers, we have quite a few US customers. We have almost no customers in…
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In the last 100 years, no American president has treated Canada with hostility. We are close to the US so transportation costs are cheap. In addition, the US is the largest market in the world for single country, and they are wealthy too. The cheap transportation costs to the US, the fact that they are the largest market in the world and they are…
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background
Sidhu frames strategy as long-standing diversification, not US policy reaction — Sidhu stated Canada's push to deepen ties with Southeast Asia was planned independently of US trade policy shifts and was not targeted at any single country.
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Sidhu announces trade talks 90% complete, targets November finish
Canada's Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu revealed in Manila that free trade negotiations with both the Philippines and ASEAN have crossed the 90% completion mark, with Canada aiming to finalize both agreements before PM Carney's November visit.
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first by Investing.com Canada, 3d ago · also Investing.com News
1 more headline
- Canada says Philippines, ASEAN trade talks 90% complete, eyes November finish Investing.com News · 2d ago
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first by Investing.com News, 2d ago
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