Justin Trudeau makes his first major push into Asia this week in Japan, where he hopes to broaden business links with a country that was once Canada’s No. 2 trading partner.
The prime minister will depart Sunday for his first overseas bilateral visit since taking office last fall.
He will meet early in the week in Tokyo with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the emperor and empress as well as leaders in the automotive sector.he visit comes ahead of Trudeau’s participation in the Group of Seven summit, on Thursday and Friday, in the Japanese city of Ise-Shima.
But before Trudeau sits down with the powerful group of world leaders, he will try to reinvigorate Canada’s trade and investment relationship with Japan.
His office says it believes there is still a lot of fertile ground in Japan and sees it as a key player in a region where the Liberal government intends to expand economic ties.
One of the main goals of Trudeau’s visit will be to try to encourage Japanese auto industry officials to invest more and to keep the plants already in Canada.In his meeting with Abe, Trudeau’s office said he plans to discuss negotiations on the countries’ economic partnership agreement, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, security co-operation, education and the Arctic, given Japan’s relative proximity.
The Japanese-Canadian relationship has been a smooth one, but there are still several ways it could be improved.
For starters, Japan’s ambassador in Ottawa notes that fewer than 15 years ago, his country was Canada’s No. 2 trading partner after the United States.
But Kenjiro Monji says Japan’s trade position with Canada has slipped since 2002.
In 2009, he said Japan had tumbled to No. 5 after being passed by China, Mexico and the United Kingdom. The value of trade between Japan and British Columbia fell by 45 per cent between 2000 and 2014, Monji added.
The slide, he said, is due to nearly two decades of recession in Japan, China’s economic boom and the emergence of Canadian trade deals, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Monji believes the bilateral trade could get a boost from a key Canadian energy source that Japan needs: liquefied natural gas.
Japan, the world’s biggest buyer of LNG, is hoping Canada will issue necessary environmental permits to allow companies to export it from British Columbia.
B.C. Premier Christy Clark recently told The Canadian Press it’s time to proceed given the approval process started more than three years ago.
“Canada is one of the most-promising potential exporters to Japan because … liquefied natural gas occupies a still very important share in our energy policy,” said Monji, who noted that Japanese companies are involved in several LNG projects in Canada.
Japan is also expected to tout the benefits for Canada of the Trans Pacific Partnership, a huge, 12-country treaty that would deepen trade connections across the Asia-Pacific region.
The pact, which Canada is reviewing, includes the major economies of Japan and the United States.
“The value of TPP lies in Japan for Canada because Canada has already (the North America Free Trade Agreement),” Monji said.
The controversial, yet-to-be-ratified TPP, negotiated by the former Conservative government, has raised concerns in several Canadian industries.
