The President of the Republic, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, met this Sunday morning, 5/21 (Saturday evening, 5/20, Brasilia time), the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, in Hiroshima (Japan), where both participate in the expanded G7 summit. They discussed trade, environmental protection, the situation in the hemisphere and the war in Ukraine.

“This meeting with the Prime Minister of Canada, for Brazil, is extremely important because we have a reasonably fruitful commercial relationship of almost 10.5 billion US dollars. And what is important is that it n “has more for any country, it’s more or less the same. And we believe that Brazil and Canada are able to double their commercial relations,” said the Brazilian president at the opening of the meeting.

For him, one of the main points of convergence between the two countries for the coming years is the issue of preserving the environment as a means of combating climate change.

“At the same time, Brazil is interested in talking to Canada about the climate issue. The climate issue affects the whole world, there are many people talking and few people doing what needs to be done, the agreements are not often not respected,” he said. out. And he recalled that the world has not respected the Kyoto protocol, nor the Paris agreement, nor COP-15. “We must take responsibility that the climate issue does not wait for our political will. It requires us to be faster, more precise, because otherwise, when we go to take decisions, it will be too late”, warned Lula .

The convergence of interests was also emphasized by Trudeau during his opening speech. “It is a great pleasure to meet President Lula. We have a lot in common, whether on environmental issues, indigenous peoples, partnerships or supporting workers and creating a better future for all. These are some of the global issues on which wish to speak out,” said the Canadian Prime Minister.

It was Lula’s sixth bilateral meeting with a head of state or government since arriving in the Asian country last Friday. So far, he has already held talks with leaders from Australia, Japan, Indonesia, France and Germany, in addition to a conversation with the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

BILATERAL RELATIONS — Canada has deep and long-standing diplomatic and trade relations with Brazil, as well as coordination on various regional and multilateral issues. In addition, Canada is Brazil’s 13th largest trading partner. The two countries have a strong and long-standing investment relationship. Canada is the 11th largest investor in Brazil, which in turn is the largest Latin American investor in Canada and the 12th largest globally.

There are bilateral processes of dialogue and cooperation in the field of education; science, technology and innovation; military affairs; and energy and mining. There is also an increasing flow of Brazilian students and immigrants to Canada, fostered by the multiethnic and multicultural nature of Canadian society.

TRADE AND INVESTMENTS — In 2022, trade between Brazil and Canada totaled US$10.56 billion, an increase of 40.9% compared to 2021. Brazilian exports reached US$5.39 billion, while that imports from Canada amounted to US$5.16 billion. The Brazilian surplus was US$232.1 million.

Among the main Brazilian export products to Canada, the following stand out in 2022: gold; aluminum; sugar; semi-finished products, iron and steel; industrialized products and coffee.

Top Canadian imports in 2022 included manure or chemical fertilizers (about 72% of the total); industrialized products; aircraft and ethylene polymers.