Let’s free ourselves of the U.S. and forge closer ties with China
咱们摆脱美国，跟中国搞好关系吧

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Julian Karaguesian is an economic and policy expert and former special adviser to the Department of Finance Canada and a visiting lecturer in the department of economics at McGill University.
朱利安·卡拉格西亚是一位经济和政策专家，曾任加拿大财政部特别顾问，并在麦吉尔大学经济学系担任客座讲师。

Robin Shaban is a partner at 2R Strategy and a fellow of the Public Policy Forum.
罗宾·沙班是 2R Strategy 的合伙人，也是公共政策论坛的研究员。

Canada’s “deal” with the U.S. to drop the digital services tax, which benefits U.S. tech giants such as Meta Platforms Inc. and Netflix Inc. at the expense of Canadian fiscal sovereignty, and the Trump administration’s latest threat of a 35-per-cent tariff on Canadian goods perfectly encapsulate our current predicament: Washington no longer views Canada as an ally, but rather as a subordinate from which to extract concessions. It’s a stark reminder that trade diversification is no longer optional – it’s an urgent national imperative.
加拿大跟美国达成的那个“协议”，就是取消数字服务税，这玩意儿让 Meta、Netflix 这些美国科技巨头赚翻了，但代价是加拿大的财政主权。再加上特朗普政府又威胁要对加拿大商品加征 35%的关税，这俩事儿简直就是把咱们现在的困境给说透了：华盛顿根本不把加拿大当盟友了，而是当成一个可以随便拿捏、榨取好处的下属。这血淋淋地提醒我们，贸易多元化已经不是可选项了，而是国家必须立刻解决的头等大事。

The rub is that our long-standing subordination to the U.S. is also holding us back from partnering with China, one of the world’s most important economies. To achieve economic sovereignty, Canada must break free from the made-in-Washington narrative that China is an unreliable trading partner bent on world domination. Instead, Canada must forge its own relationship with China – a relationship anchored in Canadian, not U.S., interests.
关键在于，我们长期以来对美国的依附，也阻碍了我们和中国这个世界主要经济体之一合作。想要实现经济主权，加拿大就得摆脱那种“华盛顿制造”的说法，别再信中国是个不可靠的贸易伙伴，一心想统治世界了。加拿大应该自己跟中国建立关系，而且这关系得是基于加拿大的利益，而不是美国的。

As the largest economy in the world on a purchasing power parity basis, China is set to be a core driver of future global economic growth. It also now accounts for a third of the world’s manufacturing output, more than all the G7 countries plus South Korea and Mexico combined. And not just low-cost manufacturing, but rather advanced production and world-beating technology. China leads in 37 of 44 critical technologies, from AI to green energy.
作为全球最大的经济体（按购买力平价算），中国注定是未来全球经济增长的核心驱动力。现在，中国在全球制造业产出中占三分之一，比 G7 所有国家加上韩国和墨西哥的总和还要多。而且，这不仅仅是低成本制造，更是先进生产和世界领先的技术。从人工智能到绿色能源，中国在 44 项关键技术中有 37 项处于领先地位。

Analysis: Trump tariff threat piles pressure on Canada to expand trade with Asia
分析：特朗普的关税威胁给加拿大施压，要求其扩大与亚洲的贸易

If Ottawa is serious about building a strong, independent economy, we must build a more reliable political relationship with China that supports access to its growing markets and tech hubs. With Canada in the throes of a productivity crisis, Canadian businesses need to be adopting and implementing leading technologies from around the world, including from China. Yet our federal government remains trapped in strategic paralysis, clinging to an Atlanticist-G7 world view while our largest trading partner and “closest ally” treats us with contempt.
如果渥太华想认真建立一个强大、独立的经济体，我们必须与中国建立更可靠的政治关系，以支持我们进入其不断增长的市场和科技中心。加拿大正处于生产力危机之中，加拿大企业需要采用和实施来自世界各地的领先技术，包括来自中国。然而，我们的联邦政府却陷入战略瘫痪，仍然固守着“大西洋主义-G7”的世界观，而我们最大的贸易伙伴和“最亲密的盟友”却对我们嗤之以鼻。

Ottawa’s acquiescence to Washington when it comes to Chinese technology creates self-inflicted economic wounds that are only getting worse. From the Huawei 5G ban to the Meng Wanzhou extradition case, Ottawa’s compliance with U.S. demands has alienated Canada from China and brought retaliatory measures in diplomacy and trade. The 100-per-cent tariffs that Ottawa imposed on Chinese electric vehicles on Oct. 1, 2024 – mirroring the Biden administration’s tariff and announced later the same day – eventually triggered retaliation against Canadian canola and pork, costing (mostly) Western farmers nearly $1-billion annually.
渥太华在对华科技问题上对华盛顿的顺从，给自己造成了经济上的内伤，而且伤口还在不断恶化。从华为 5G 禁令到孟晚舟引渡案，渥太华对美国要求的屈服，让加拿大疏远了中国，并招致了外交和贸易上的报复。2024 年 10 月 1 日，渥太华对中国电动汽车加征了 100%的关税——这和拜登政府的关税如出一辙，而且是同一天宣布的——此举最终引发了对加拿大油菜籽和猪肉的报复，每年（主要）让西部农民损失近 10 亿美元。

The irony? While Canada enforces Washington’s decoupling-from-China agenda, the U.S. quietly re-establishes its own commercial ties with China. Even as Washington pressures allies to shun Beijing, it is finalizing a bilateral agreement with China. Canada and other “allies” are enforcing rules that the rule-maker is ignoring.
绝了，加拿大还在给华盛顿那边配合，搞什么跟中国脱钩的这一套，结果美国自己悄悄地又跟中国重新建立商业联系了。美国那边一边逼着盟友们都别搭理北京，一边自己却在跟中国谈一个双边协议。加拿大还有其他那些“盟友”们呢，还在那儿执行规则，结果制定规则的人自己都不带理的。

On top of that, our government officials alienate China (and India) with lectures on values and the absence of like-mindedness, which restricts both sides’ political ability and willingness to expand economic relations. Yes, Canada’s pluralistic system differs greatly from China’s single-party system. But Canada trades with other countries with significantly different political systems.
而且，咱们的政府官员还老拿价值观那一套来给中国（还有印度）上课，说什么“志不同不相为谋”，这下可好，两边在拓展经济关系上的政治意愿和能力都被限制了。是，加拿大的多元化体制跟中国的一党制确实差挺多的。但加拿大跟那些政治体制差异巨大的国家也做生意啊。

Opinion: For all the importance of G7, Canada’s fortunes truly lie with China and India
个人看法：G7 虽然很重要，但加拿大的未来真正得看中国和印度

Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party has been in power almost continuously since 1955, and yet no one questions our economic relationship with Japan because of “different values.” Our Minister of AI is seeking investment from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to expand our AI infrastructure. And while the U.S. has a pluralistic political system similar to ours, its democratic institutions have eroded significantly. Yet we generally do not question our bilateral relationship with the U.S. on this basis.
日本自民党从 1955 年以来基本就没下台过，但也没人因为“价值观不同”就质疑我们跟日本的经济关系啊。我们这边的 AI 部长还在找沙特阿拉伯要投资，想扩建咱们的 AI 基础设施。美国虽然跟咱们一样政治体制挺多元的，但他们那民主制度都快烂透了。可咱们也没因为这个就质疑跟美国的双边关系啊。

To achieve economic independence, Canada must pivot. Between 2018-19 and the end of 2023, Mexico-China trade grew 66 per cent while maintaining U.S. ties. Why can’t we? We also need to improve technology transfer from China in ways that increase our economic strength, expedite our innovation and protect our sovereignty.
加拿大想经济独立，就得变通一下了。2018-19 年到 2023 年底，墨西哥跟中国的贸易额涨了 66%，同时跟美国的关系也没落下。咱们为啥不行？咱们还得想办法从中国那儿搞点技术转移，得能增强咱们的经济实力，加速创新，还得保住咱们的主权。

The greatest threat to Canadian sovereignty isn’t Chinese interference, it’s our servility to a U.S. that increasingly treats us as a vassal. When 95 per cent of global consumers live outside America, the fact that we rely on one increasingly unreliable partner for 75 per cent of our exports isn’t strategy, it’s strategic malpractice.
加拿大主权最大的威胁不是中国干涉，而是我们对美国越来越像个附庸一样卑躬屈膝。全球 95%的消费者都在美国之外，我们却依赖一个越来越不靠谱的伙伴来消化 75%的出口，这根本不是什么战略，而是战略上的昏招。

Prime Minister Mark Carney now faces a defining choice: double down on that Atlanticist world view or embrace what Columbia University professor Jeffrey Sachs calls the “reality of the new multipolar world.” The relentless attack on Canadian prosperity and sovereignty over the past six months should make the choice obvious.
卡尼总理现在面临一个关键抉择：是要继续坚持那个“大西洋主义”的世界观，还是拥抱哥伦比亚大学教授杰弗里·萨克斯所说的“新多极世界现实”。过去六个月里，加拿大繁荣和主权遭受的无情打击，应该让这个选择不言而喻。