North American semiconductor industry will prevent ‘over-reliance’ on Asia: Trudeau – National | 24CA News

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau mentioned Wednesday he’ll push to make sure Canada performs a significant position in North America turning into a dependable provider of semiconductors to the worldwide financial system — but admitted that position is “still somewhat to be determined.”

Trudeau made the feedback following the North American Leaders’ Summit with U.S. President Joe Biden and Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in Mexico City, the place the so-called “Three Amigos” agreed to spice up semiconductor output and funding within the continent to compete with Asia, which has dominated the trade.

“The world has realized that an over-reliance on any one region for semiconductors will have dire consequences on the economy that we’re building for the future,” he mentioned.

“Canada has a significant role to play in the semiconductor industry. What exactly that role is, is still somewhat to be determined.”

He pointed to the semiconductor meeting plant in Bromont, Que. — one of many largest such amenities in North America and a key provider for tech giants like IBM — as one space the place Canada can contribute.

The federal authorities’s new crucial minerals technique, unveiled final month, is designed to produce the sources wanted to construct more and more vital semiconductors which can be utilized in all the pieces from telecoms to electrical automobiles and defence.

“Our focus is on making sure that Canada and Canadians are a part of the semiconductor ecosystem,” Trudeau mentioned.

He added that Canada’s contributions to the North American auto trade — not simply constructing automobiles but in addition varied elements which can be assembled elsewhere — offers an financial mannequin that may be replicated for semiconductors.

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COVID-19-fuelled lockdowns in semiconductor manufacturing centres like China and Taiwan led to a worldwide scarcity of microchips that’s nonetheless being felt within the automotive and electronics industries, amongst others.

The pandemic, together with Russia’s warfare in Ukraine that impacted power provides for Europe, has led to Canada and different Western nations trying elsewhere around the globe for strategic partnerships to keep away from overly counting on single nations or areas for essential industries — notably “disruptive” nations like Russia and China.

The North American technique agreed to this week will see a semiconductor discussion board organized for early 2023 to extend funding throughout all three nations.

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Trudeau mentioned conversations being had with North American companions and elsewhere relating to crucial minerals and semiconductors are geared in the direction of agreements which can be nonetheless months and even years away, with nothing concrete having been agreed to throughout his time in Mexico City.

“The reception that we’ve seen from Canada’s critical minerals strategy … has been overwhelmingly positive,” he mentioned.

“When we have great announcements to make, we make them.”

Mexico’s hopes of benefiting from the push to spice up semiconductor output have been undermined by an ongoing dispute over Lopez Obrador’s nationalist power insurance policies, with Washington and Ottawa beginning formal dispute settlement proceedings in July.

The spat, which centres on Mexico’s efforts to present precedence to its cash-strapped, state-run power firms on the expense of personal overseas traders, was being carefully watched on the summit. Trudeau mentioned the problem was mentioned, and that Lopez Obrador was “receptive” to his and Biden’s issues.

Trudeau dismissed the concept that Lopez Obrador is a “trade skeptic,” saying the Mexican president was “extremely positive” about Canadian commerce and funding in Mexican power.

Earlier Wednesday, following a bilateral assembly with Trudeau, Lopez Obrador pointed to TC Energy’s funding within the $4.5 billion Southeast Gateway Pipeline that may convey pure gasoline to southeastern Mexico as a major instance of profitable Canadian funding.

The pipeline is a part of an total technique for Lopez Obrador’s authorities to lure overseas funding to its south from the northern frontier area, the place it clusters for simple entry to the United States.

On the extra contentious situation of electrical energy — the place Mexico can be being accused of limiting foreign-built crops — Lopez Obrador mentioned he advised Trudeau that he would meet with Canadian firms which have complaints together with his administration’s insurance policies.

The Canada-U.S.-Mexico free commerce settlement, generally known as CUSMA, prohibits favouring home firms over these from different member states.

Trudeau mentioned each Lopez Obrador and Biden — who has pushed a “Buy American” financial technique that has prompted issues about commerce relations with Canada — are merely searching for their very own employees as Canada does, including there’s “no contradiction” between that strategy and dealing with allies.

“That’s what this particular gathering has been entirely focused on: understanding that the three of us working together are an extraordinarily competitive continent that can take on the world,” he mentioned.

Trudeau will head proper from the Mexico City summit to assembly with one other key ally, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, in Ottawa on Thursday.

Japan is equally making an attempt to pivot away from a reliance on China and Russia for electrical energy and meals, echoing feedback made by Trudeau and different leaders in latest weeks.

“There is a risk involved in relying excessively upon a single country economically and we now fear that risk more intensely than ever,” Japanese commerce minister Yasutoshi Nishimura advised a Washington-based suppose tank final week.

Canada’s latest Indo-Pacific technique identifies the area, together with Japan and South Korea, as one other alternative for key funding and commerce corridors with the intention to mitigate China’s dominance.

— with recordsdata from the Canadian Press and Reuters

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