08:42 AM EST, 01/26/2026 (MT Newswires) -- China said on Monday that a preliminary trade deal with Canada "does not target any third parties" after the United States threatened to impose 100% tariffs on Canadian products if the agreement were finalised, AFP is reporting.

Meanwhile, Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney will likely visit India the first week of March and sign deals on uranium, energy, minerals and artificial intelligence, Dinesh Patnaik, India's High Commissioner to Canada said in an interview, Reuters is reporting.

According to Reuters, Carney is making "all-out efforts" to diversify Canada's alliances beyond the U.S., its top trade partner. In Davos last week, Reuters noted, Carney earned a rare standing ovation for saying the old rules-based order is over and called on middle powers like Canada to build coalitions to shape a fairer, more resilient world.

Under the China deal, announced this month, Beijing is expected to reduce tariffs on Canadian canola imports and grant Canadians visa-free travel to China. But over the weekend, the United States -- Canada's traditional ally -- threatened to impose 100% tariffs on Canadian products if the deal were to go ahead, saying it would allow China to "dump goods", AFP noted.

China's foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said on Monday that the trade deal was not aimed at Washington. "China and Canada have established a new type of strategic partnership...it does not target any third party," China's foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a press conference.

"China advocates that nations should approach state-to-state relations with a win-win rather than zero-sum mindset, and through cooperation rather than confrontation," he added.

AFP noted the deal was announced during PM Carney's visit to Beijing this month, as he seeks to distance himself from a "volatile" United States under U.S. President Donald Trump. Canada and the U.S. have been caught in a trade war since the Trump administration imposed import duties on its northern neighbour.

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