Taiwan Rep Tells MPs Trade With Canada Is ‘Remarkably Low,’ Calls for More Engagement

As Ottawa prepares to host the Chinese foreign minister to boost Canada-China ties, Taiwan’s representative in Canada is calling on MPs to increase trade with the island nation.

Harry Tseng, head of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Canada, told MPs on the House of Commons international trade committee that bilateral trade between Canada and Taiwan, when compared to each other’s total global trade, is “remarkably low.”

Tseng made the comments while appearing before the committee on May 26 as part of its study on Canada-Taiwan trade cooperation.

He noted that Taiwan’s foreign trade reached a record high last year, at approximately US$1.1 trillion, while Canada’s total trade remained “highly robust” at approximately US$1.2 trillion.

Meanwhile, he said trade with Canada accounts for only about 0.5 to 0.6 per cent of Taiwan’s global trade. Although Taiwan is Canada’s 15th-largest trading partner overall and sixth-largest in Asia, bilateral trade between the two economies represents only about 0.5 percent of Canada’s total global trade.

“There is immense room for growth, but both [Canada and Taiwan] are required to engage with each other more,” he noted.

The next logical step, he said, is to advance a trade cooperation framework agreement. He said this would “provide an important institutional framework” to facilitate trade, investment, regulatory cooperation, and supply chain integration between the two nations.

In February, Tseng told CBC’s Radio-Canada that a trade cooperation agreement between Ottawa and Taipei has been ready to be finalized since April 2025, and is just awaiting the final signature. Tseng has said Taiwan was left with the impression that Canada is seeking to improve its relations with China at the expense of its relationship with Taiwan by delaying the signing of the agreement.

Tseng reiterated during the May 26 committee meeting that negotiations for the agreement concluded more than a year ago. He said the text of the agreement is finalized and the necessary legal review has largely been completed.

Asked by Conservative MP Jacob Mantle whether he knows why Canada has not moved forward in implementing the agreement, Tseng said he is not in a position to comment.

“The ball is in your court. It is for you [the Canadian government] to see whether you want to move on or what kind of obstacle you want to bring up for both sides to solve,” Tseng said.

Mantle then asked Tseng if he believes Ottawa is purposely delaying the implementation of the agreement “at the behest of, or out of fear of, China.”

“I am not in a position to answer this question,” Tseng repeated, noting that in the past year there was a change in government in Canada as well as a change in the geopolitical landscape.

“I believe I have the goodwill from the counterpart I work with in the federal government, and we are looking forward to their cooperation to move on,” he added.

Prime Minister Mark Carney had said in February that Canada is not “afraid” of having relations with Taiwan, but is “focusing on strengthening our trade relations with China.”

China

Tseng’s testimony comes as Ottawa prepares to host Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi this week in an effort to improve relations with Beijing, following Carney’s January visit to China, where he described the relationship between the two countries as a “strategic partnership.”

Wang’s visit—the first bilateral trip to Canada by a Chinese foreign minister since 2016—comes shortly after Conservative MP Michael Chong travelled to Taiwan last week and met with Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te. Chong made the trip in defiance of a recent warning from the Chinese ambassador to Canada against sending Canadian parliamentarians to Taiwan.

The ambassador said in an interview with The Globe and Mail in late April that it would be “hurtful” to Canada-China ties if Canadian parliamentarians conduct “any official engagement” with Taiwan. He also said sending navy ships through the Taiwan Strait could be considered “harassment, and even provocation.”

Beijing views self-ruled Taiwan as a breakaway province, despite never having governed the island nation, and seeks to place it under its rule. Taiwan has pushed back against Beijing’s international pressure campaign to sideline the island.

Canadian navy ships have travelled through the Taiwan Strait roughly a dozen times in the last decade, often accompanying U.S. Navy vessels, which China has criticized. Taiwan has said it affirms the strait as international waters and supports freedom of navigation.

Tseng told MPs on May 26 that it is “very important” for Canadian politicians to continue to visit Taiwan and for Canadian navy ships to transit the Taiwan Strait. He noted the Taiwan Strait is international waters and it is “unacceptable” that China has claimed the strait as internal water.

“You are defying what China says is their internal water by action, so we appreciate that very much,” he said.

Liberal MP Judy Sgro, who chairs the international trade committee as well as the Canada-Taiwan Friendship Group in Parliament, noted she will be leading a delegation to Taiwan in October with parliamentarians on both sides of the aisle.