Thank you for the question.
How will the Indo-Pacific strategy help us succeed? To be honest, I'm not sure we will move from our current situation. Upwards of 75% of Canadian exports are now going to the United States. I'm not sure we'll see much of a change to that.
I would agree with you that the Indo-Pacific strategy is framed as something that is supposed to help Canada diversify its trade. The reality, as I said in my opening comments, is that only once a company is exporting to the United States will it also consider exporting to the the Indo-Pacific, Europe or anywhere else. A small minority are exporting somewhere other than the United States. As we diversify, we will also trade more with the United States as a result. That is just what our firms will do.
It's not that Canada is lazy, in my view. This happens the world over. In all regions of the world, you are most likely to trade with your neighbours and large economies. Our next door neighbour happens to be the world's largest economy. It fits theory and evidence that we do that.
It is important for us to trade with other economies. It can help in our relationship with the United States to demonstrate that we have relevance elsewhere and to demonstrate to the Americans how we can be helpful to them.
I will be honest. Thinking about trading with the Indo-Pacific as a way to move away from the United States is not the right tack, and I don't think it will be successful.