Trudeau Leaves China Empty-Handed
- Canada wants to fight populism by pushing progressive policies
- But PM’s ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach fell flat in Beijing
China and Canada Fail to Agree on Free Trade
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Justin Trudeau saw a third way for trade, preaching “progressive” values as a fix to a global order put on the defensive by populists like Donald Trump. But this week in China, he got a crash course on how difficult it is to sell.
The Canadian prime minister wrapped up a visit to the Asian powerhouse Thursday without launching free trade talks, despite high expectations. He’s been pushing both the U.S. president and China’s Xi Jinping to adopt provisions like labor, gender and environmental guarantees to calm working-class anxiety and keep trade flowing. Instead of a receptive audience, he found a culture clash.