OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney today embarks on his first trip to Asia since taking office, part of his government's efforts to strengthen trade and diplomatic ties with a region that feels increasingly squeezed between the United States and China.
Carney will attend summits of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, better known as ASEAN, and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.
US President Donald Trump is expected to attend both events, with world leaders vying for his attention.
On Thursday, Trump posted on social media that he was ending trade talks with Canada over television ads calling for an end to his tariffs. The president was referring to an ad campaign paid for by the Ontario government that aired on several U.S. television channels using audio and video of former President Ronald Reagan speaking about the tariffs in 1987.
The Prime Minister's Office has not yet responded to Trump's statement about ending negotiations. But Carney played down reports this week that suggested he might meet with Trump to negotiate agreements on U.S. industry tariffs targeting Canadian steel, aluminum and vehicles.
“I'm looking forward to meeting the APEC president in Korea, but we're going to be meeting with a lot of other countries, and you know, one of the core elements of our strategy is trade diversification,” he told reporters in Ottawa on Tuesday.
In a speech Wednesday in Ottawa, Carney said his goal is to double Canada's exports to countries outside the U.S. over the next decade.
Canada has been pushing for greater engagement with the Indo-Pacific region over the past few years, especially since the launch of its regional strategy in late 2022.
Carney's nine-day trip begins with the ASEAN summit in Malaysia, an event to which Canadian prime ministers are traditionally invited, although Canada is not a member.
Ottawa is negotiating a trade agreement with the ten-nation bloc, which was originally expected to be finalized this year. Both sides now hope to sign an agreement early in the new year. A trade agreement with ASEAN member Indonesia was concluded only last month.
Goldie Hyder, president and CEO of the Business Council of Canada, is leading a delegation of Canadian business leaders to the region in conjunction with Carney's visit.
“In trading, location is everything, and where you are is a big signal,” he said.
“This prime minister has been to Europe five times. The action, in terms of economic growth, is in Asia.”
Using India as an example, Haider said Canada needs to build economic relationships with other countries that go beyond diplomacy and politics so that businesses can withstand any shocks to those relationships over time.
Veena Najibullah, vice-president of the Asia Pacific Foundation, said Carney also needs to send a signal to potential partners in the region that Canada is interested in more than just trade.
“I think this is an opportunity for Canadians and regional partners to hear from Prime Minister Carney about his vision for engagement in the Indo-Pacific region and how he intends to deepen trade and economic relations as well as security partnerships,” she said.
Analysts say Canada can find common ground with many countries in the Indo-Pacific region on the need to defend the rules-based international order.
“Southeast Asia has been sort of the epicenter of US-China competition,” Najibullah said, adding that many countries in the region want to avoid becoming overly dependent on any global power.
China has led a charm offensive in the region recently, including President Xi Jinping's tour after Trump imposed “liberation day” tariffs in the spring.
ASEAN countries are “really interested in Japan, Australia, the European Union, India and Canada as strategic partners to engage with the region,” Najibullah said.
Carney is also set to travel to Singapore, where he is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and business leaders.
The final leg of the trip will take him to Gyeongju, South Korea, the city where APEC leaders meet.
South Korea was the first Asian country to sign a free trade agreement with Canada in 2015.
On Monday, the South Korean embassy in Ottawa signaled it is ready to serve as a gateway to the region by hosting business and government officials at an event marking the 10th anniversary of the trade deal.
As Embassy Minister-Counselor Haijin Kim noted, South Korea has the fifth largest army in the world (it has been at war for decades) and has a well-developed industrial base that wants to work with Canada.
“The partnership with Korea opens up opportunities for cost-effective procurement, technology transfer and joint development,” Kim said.
South Korea's Hanwha Ocean is one of two companies vying for the contract to build Canada's new submarine fleet. During the trip, Carney is expected to visit the company's shipyard, located about 120 kilometers from Gyeongju.
APEC's 21 members are located on both sides of the Pacific Ocean and include Canada, the United States, Australia, China, Russia and Peru.
The APEC summit is a forum for bilateral discussions and Xi Jinping is expected to attend, leading to speculation that he and Carney may meet in person.
Senior government officials who briefed reporters on the background to the trip said Thursday they were hopeful and planning a bilateral meeting.
It's also possible that Xi and Carney will end up speaking less formally, as the leaders of Canada and China are often forced to sit next to each other in meetings organized in alphabetical order.
During a meeting in Beijing last week, Foreign Minister Anita Anand and her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi agreed to return to the strategic partnership that was developed two decades ago. She also invited Wang to visit Canada.
Western prime ministers and business leaders are calling on Carney to meet with Xi Jinping to resolve trade issues that have led to higher tariffs in Canada on Chinese electric vehicles and important minerals, as well as retaliatory Chinese taxes on Canadian canola, pork and seafood.
Carney recently said he would likely meet with Xi “in due course.” The Prime Minister's Office said no meeting had been confirmed.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2025.
– With files from Dylan Robertson.
