Canadian Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre speaks during a news conference on Parliament Hill on December 16, 2024 in Ottawa. (Photo by Dave Chan / AFP)
OTTAWA—Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says Ottawa must negotiate a deal with the United States that benefits Canada, but it should not turn away from Washington to pursue a strategic partnership with China.
Delivering the keynote address at a national conference of conservatives in Ottawa on May 7, Poilievre said Canada needs to “fight” for tariff-free trade with the United States by “negotiating a hard bargain” and opposing U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
“But also, we must reject the idea of a permanent rupture with our biggest customer—which buys two thirds of our goods—in favour of a strategic partnership for a ‘new world order’ with Beijing,” Poilievre said at the Canada Strong and Free Network conference.
Poilievre has been critical of a deal signed by Prime Minister Mark Carney and Beijing in January, which would reduce Ottawa’s tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles from 100 percent to the “most-favoured-nation” tariff rate of 6.1 percent on 49,000 EVs per year, while China would lower its tariffs on some Canadian agricultural products in return.
The Conservative leader noted the agreement offers “no guarantee” that China would lower or eliminate tariffs on Canadian goods. In April, Poilievre said on The Diary of a CEO podcast that China could constitute “the biggest risk and threat to our country and our world.”
Poilievre told the conference audience that Carney had also said Beijing was the “single greatest threat“ to Canada during the 2025 election campaign. ”And then about three months ago, he signed on to what he called the ‘strategic partnership for a new world order’ with a dictatorship in Beijing,” Poilievre said.