OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau landed in Beijing on Sunday, with expanding trade with China at the top of his agenda. As the United States under President Trump becomes increasingly protectionist, Canada is moving in the opposite direction.
Along with 10 other nations, Canada is trying to revive the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade deal championed by the Obama administration and abandoned by Mr. Trump. It is in trade talks with numerous other countries and free-trade groups — including India, Japan and Singapore. And in late September its broad free-trade pact with Europe clicked into action.
Now Mr. Trudeau is widely expected to add free-trade talks with China to Canada’s list of negotiations at his meeting with President Xi Jinping.
Put it all together and it suggests that Mr. Trudeau, who announced that “Canada is back” after his election two years ago, is positioning his country to fill a void left by the United States by becoming the global champion of free trade.
“The rest of the world is saying: ‘What do we do?’” said Dan Ciuriak, the former deputy chief economist at Canada’s foreign affairs and trade department, referring to the Trump administration’s stance on trade. “There is a lack of leadership, there is a vacuum out there.”
But hard realities may limit what Mr. Trudeau can achieve. First among them: Canada is, at best, a medium-sized economic power.
