Canada-China Trade: Economic Interdependence and Coercion

Abstract

Understanding the logic of Beijing’s economic coercion will be critical for Canadian security moving forward. This chapter evaluates the nature of the economic interdependence that exposes trading nations like Canada to trade coercion from a larger trad-ing partner like China. It starts by explaining how China uses eco-nomic coercion in response to political disputes, using the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) dispute with South Korea as an example. It then examines how these dynamics have played out in China’s relations with Canada. It also analyses how Beijing chooses its targets of coercion, and the mechanisms through which it imposes its coercive strategies.