Canada is leaning on the United States to help settle a dispute with China, which has started to block imports of vital Canadian commodities amid a dispute over a detained Huawei executive.
In a sign of increasing frustration at what it sees as a lacklustre U.S. response, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government is signaling it could withhold co-operation on major issues.
China has upped the pressure on Canada in recent weeks over the arrest of Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, arrested last December on a U.S. warrant.
It halted Canadian canola imports and last week suspended the permits of two major pork producers.
After Meng's Vancouver arrest, Chinese police also detained two Canadian citizens.
Beijing is refusing to allow a Canadian trade delegation to visit, forcing officials to use video conference calls as they try to negate a major threat to commodity exports.
With no cards to play against China without risking significant economic damage, Canada has launched a full-court press in Washington, which is negotiating its own trade deal with Beijing...
This was excerpted from the 5 May 2019 edition of CBC News.