As more Trump tariffs loom, Canada plans new strategic export office

The federal government will launch a “strategic exports office” aimed at helping Canadian businesses land lucrative foreign contracts as Ottawa looks to diversify trade beyond the United States, International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu announced on Thursday.

The office will be an arm of the federal government that will help Canadian businesses and government officials be “better coordinated,” he said.

“We are launching Canada’s first-ever strategic exports office, working side by side to help our best companies win the biggest contracts in the toughest markets around the world,” Sidhu said.

“Think of the strategic exports office as your government-level dealmaker. It brings strategic advocacy, government financing, and diplomatic support together in one place,” he added.

The office will have diplomatic and financial experts, along with “business backing from the industries,” Sidhu said.

The move comes as Canada looks to find more trading partners across the world as it stares down fresh, sweeping 50 per cent tariffs on a wide range of its exports to the United States from U.S. President Donald Trump that could hit the Canadian economy next month.

Earlier this month, Trump signed three executive orders, each one using a different justification for the new tariff: the provincial and territorial boycotts on American alcohol products, Canada’s retaliatory tariffs on U.S.-made vehicles and auto parts, and quotas on American dairy imports under Canada’s supply management system.

The new tariffs are set to go into effect on Aug. 19.

In October 2025, Prime Minister Mark Carney vowed to double Canada’s non-U.S. exports. Carney said the expansion of international trade beyond the U.S. will generate an additional $300 billion in trade, which will bolster the economy in the face of Trump’s tariffs.

Diversifying trade will help Canada weather the uncertainty of U.S. tariffs, Sidhu said Thursday.

“If you have one customer buying your product, they will set the price. But if we’re able to open up the market and have more customers, that gives our industry a competitive advantage,” he said.

When asked why Ottawa could not advocate for Canadian businesses with foreign governments with existing government bodies like Export Development Canada, Sidhu said Canada is “losing out on business because we’re not as coordinated as other countries.”

“They (Canadian businesses) would get to the finish line, another state leader would swoop in, a trade minister would swoop in and make a call and billions of dollars of deals would be lost (to competitors),” he said.

The new office would offer “better co-ordination” for businesses looking to get contracts overseas, he said.