OPINION: Why China was the Dragon in la Sala in Mexico City

This article was originally published in Policy Magazine. The below is a preview of the full article. To see the original article in its entirety, click here. 

By Carlo Dade

September 22, 2025

Sometimes, what is most interesting in a conversation is what is not said. In the case of the Canada-Mexico summit, that would be any mention of China.

This is peculiar, given how central the “China issue” has become in both countries’ dealings with the United States—and, increasingly, with each other, on matters such as autos and trade.

As an aside, it is also ironic because the term used to describe the new Canada-Mexico relationship — a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership — is a concept mainly associated with China. Seven of the CSPs in the Americas are bilateral partnership agreements with China. Canada has a recent CSP with Korea and has now added this one with Mexico.

But in many ways, this classification for the hierarchy of biltateral relationships makes a useful framework for thinking about the announcement of the new partnership. A CSP elevates the Canada-Mexico relationship along a trajectory from friendship to partnership to strategic partnership to comprehensive strategic partnership. If Canada ever announces an “all-weather strategic cooperative partnership,” we’ll know that the naming convention has gone beyond mere coincidence.

In this framework, a CSP is not just a new label but a recognition of a mature relationship. It moves Canada and Mexico beyond the traditional narrow, transactional framing of free trade agreements or narrowly focused, unconnected single-sector and thematic deals. Each word—partnership, strategic, comprehensive—adds weight. Together, they signal ambition.

Carlo Dade is Director of International Policy at the School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary.

Source: Policy Magazine