Forget maple syrup and Tim’s franchises—the Canadian exports everyone’s clamouring for these days are critical minerals and natural gas.
The latest country to express interest? South Korea.
Driving the news: President Yoon Suk-yeol arrived in Canada to discuss potential trade deals that would give South Korea a supply of critical minerals and liquefied natural gas (LNG).
- Just last month, a German delegation also paid a visit, looking to make deals for critical minerals (mission accomplished) and LNG (*sad trombone noise*).
Why it matters: A strategic energy partnership with South Korea would boost Canada’s GDP while also granting it influence in the increasingly relevant Indo-Pacific region.
Why it’s happening: South Korea wants to ween itself off both minerals from China and gas from Russia (amid soaring prices) and is turning to a trusted partner with plenty of both.
- South Korea is home to Kia and Hyundai, two of the world’s biggest automakers, which need a stable supply of critical minerals to produce EVs.
Yes, but: Invitations for Canada to become a bigger energy supplier don’t mean much if it can’t live up to expectations. Currently, LNG and critical minerals are, what we’d call, theoretical exports.
Canada’s West coast LNG terminal won’t be completed till 2025 and another proposed terminal is facing regulatory hurdles. Canada also greatly lags behind its peers in mining critical minerals, with only one operating lithium mine (which happens to be Chinese-owned).