Canada's Mark Carney to meet China's Xi Jinping in South Korea amid Trump raising tariffs — What's on agenda?

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping later this week in South Korea. Carney also mentioned that he is ready for trade talks with US President Donald Trump as soon as he is, the PM told reporters on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur, on Monday.

“We stand ready to sit down with the United States, myself, with the President, my colleagues, with their colleagues, when the U.S. is ready to sit down,” news agency Reuters quoted the Canadian PM as saying.

Mark Carney's plans of meeting with Chinese President Xi comes amid fresh tensions with President Donald Trump, who recently cut off trade talks and imposed additional tariffs. Trump reportedly said he has no plans to meet Carney when they cross paths in the region.

Canada-China talks: What's on the agenda?

Mark Carney, who is currently on a three-nation Asia trip – said he plans to discuss bilateral commercial relations with Xi Jinping – along with a broader range of issues.

The Canadian leader also said that the talks could lead to progress on easing travel restrictions between the countries, as well as on agriculture, fishery products and manufacturing for Canada, mentioned a report by Bloomberg.

“We will pick up on the discussions I had with Premier Li in New York a few weeks ago,” he said, referring to a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly with China’s top official, Li Qiang.

Recently, Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand travelled to China to help ease relations – seeking relief from the Asian nation's tariffs against Canada’s canola, pork and seafood, while Carney has resisted lowering tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, steel and aluminum.

On Monday, Carney also signalled that while he is open to further talks with the United States, he will reject any trade deal that is not in the best interest of his nation, as per multiple reports.

Canada-US relations: What Trump said?

Last Thursday, Trump announced he was terminating all trade talks with Canada after an Ontario political advertisement featured a snippet of Republican icon and former US President Ronald Reagan saying tariffs cause trade wars and economic disaster.

Following the suspension of trade talks – on Saturday – Trump even announced an additional 10% tariffs on goods from Canada.

Carney said he has not been in contact with Trump since Thursday, but has let the United States President know that he is available.