Faced with difficult trade negotiations with the United States and American tariffs on their products, Canada and India pledged to encourage long-term supply chain partnerships in critical minerals and clean energy.
At a trade summit in India, Canada and the host country agreed to revive their stalled bilateral relations and “reiterated their commitment to deepening bilateral cooperation through sustained dialogue, mutual respect, and forward-looking initiatives,” the countries said in a joint statement.
Canada and India have borne the brunt of U.S. President Donald Trump’s flip-flopping trade policy this year.
President Trump last month called off all trade negotiations with Canada, the main U.S. trade partner, over a Canadian advert against the tariffs in which former U.S. President Ronald Reagan says tariffs “hurt every American”.
India, for its part, has been singled out by the Trump Administration as a key enabler of Russian budget revenues for buying large quantities of Russian crude oil. Due to the oil purchases from Russia, President Trump in August doubled the tariff on Indian imported goods to 50%.
Both Canada and India have ambitions in the critical minerals sector, and collaboration and partnerships would benefit the clean energy and manufacturing goals of both countries.
Canada’s new budget includes a plan for a US$1.4 billion (C$2 billion) “critical minerals sovereign fund” over five years for equity investments, loan guarantees, and offtake agreements.
This week, Canada’s Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said that Canada should work to refine its critical minerals.
“Exploration, extraction is something. But what we need is refining. That’s the key,” Champagne told business leaders in Calgary.
Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney has vowed to make Canada an energy superpower and the partner of choice for critical minerals supply.
India has just announced a new royalty payment scheme for a list of critical minerals in a bid to motivate miners to ramp up local production, while it is also looking to develop cobalt and copper in Zambia, and lithium and copper assets in Chile.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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