Transcription
We're delighted and honored, uh, that the Vice Premier and you are here tonight with us to talk about the important agreements that you've reached today. Uh, so we look forward to hearing more details and to your speech. So, ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming Canada's 24th Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Mark Carney. Thank you. Graham Merc. Vice Premier, sorry. We, we are honored and grateful, and I'm personally am honored and grateful that you could join us this evening. Your time is so precious, and that you're dedicating it to Canada relations is very auspicious.
I want to recognize Olivia Deare Graham, the team at the Canada China Business Council for your leadership in bringing together. Look at this room, this remarkable room together. And I know that the past few years in our bilateral relations have been challenging, at many points uncertain. And it's in the face of that uncertainty that the leaders in this room and the organizations that you represent, you've stayed resilient and focused. And you've helped bring us to this moment because when channels between governments had narrowed, it was often business leaders, leaders in the educational sector, broader leadership who continued to build new possibilities and partnerships. So thank you. Thank you for your leadership and your persistence.
Counter set reality nostalgate. Nostalgia is not a strategy here. In the face of global change and uncertainty, Canada is building at home, catalyzing massive new investment and diversifying and deepening our partnerships abroad. We're moving at pace in order to get results. Land. We've secured new investment partnerships around the world, including a commitment from the UAE to invest $70 billion in Canada. Tomorrow, tomorrow I'll be traveling to Doha with the ministers, and we'll be meeting with His the Amir, His Highness Sheikh Tamin bin Hamad Al Thani, as well as business and investment leaders to discuss further new opportunities for partnership. And we're doing this because we want to build big things with nations and companies with risk-takers and builders like you in this room. Leaders and innovators who are as ambitious as we are.
Now, our trade, deepening our relationships means above all engaging properly, respectfully, pragmatically, ambitiously with China. China is the world's second largest economy. It is the largest contributor year after year to global growth, contributing over the last year one-third of global growth. It's our second largest trading partner. It's Canada's third largest investor across Canada. $20 billion a year in wages, 400,000 jobs. Farmers in the Prairies, manufacturers and engineers in Ontario, miners in Quebec, harvesters in Atlantic Canada, all depend on trade with China. Two-way trade amounts to nearly $120 billion each year. Canada now has set the goal of doubling our exports to China by the end of this decade. There is, yeah. And we need you to help with that. There's so much to build on this relationship, so much to gain. The collaborative prosperity, the stability, the security.
With this visit, Canada and China are launching a new strategic partnership. A partnership focused on five areas where we can make significant immediate gains, and I'll list them in a moment, but I would take very much the Vice Premier's point that we have an opportunity to write new chapters above, above and beyond these pillars. But our agreement immediately focuses on energy and climate competitiveness, trade, particularly in agriculture and food, multilateralism, security and public safety, and deepening people-to-people ties.
We are leveraging our strengths in energy, China's strengths in clean tech and climate competitiveness. China's strengths, for example, in electric vehicles are formidable. They're undeniable. These are the most affordable and energy-efficient and innovative vehicles in the world. And for Canada to build our own competitive EV sector, we need to learn from, partner with, and access and build supply chains with China. To help deliver on the full potential of these partnerships and to bring down costs for Canadians, we're going to start by allowing up to 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles into the Canadian market at the most favored nation tariff rate, which is six, 6.1%. This is an agreement that returns shipments to the levels that existed prior to recent frictions, but it's an agreement that promises much more for Canadians. It's expected that within three years, this agreement will drive considerable Chinese investment in Canada's auto sector, creating good careers in Canada, accelerating our progress towards a net-zero future and the auto industry of the future. It's also expected that with this agreement, within five years, more than half of these vehicles will be affordable EVs with an import price of less than $35,000.
The second pillar of our strategic partnership aims to increase trade between Canada and China, particularly in agriculture. This room knows, Premier Mo knows, Canada exports more than $7 billion in agricultural products to China each year. China, up until recently, was the largest single market for canola seed. We want to return to those levels, but we really want to surpass them. And that's why I'm pleased that today Canada and China have reached a preliminary but landmark, a landmark trade agreement to remove trade barriers and reduce tariffs. By March 1st, Canada expects that China will lower tariffs on Canadian canola seed to a combined rate of approximately 15%. That's a significant drop from the current combined tariff rate of 84%. Furthermore, Canada expects that Canadian canola meal, as well as Canadian lobsters, crabs, and peas will no longer be subject to relevant anti-discrimination tariffs from March 1st, at least until the end of this year. Now, that's a $7 billion immediate opportunity, as I said. But with this agreement, we also expect working together to see the resolution of many long-term trade obstacles on a range of agricultural sectors from beef to pet food. We expect building on this to increase our exports by 50% in this sector by 2030. But