ASEAN-Canada Trade Deal 80% Complete, Targets 2025 Finish
ASEAN-Canada trade negotiations are 80% complete with talks targeting a year-end finish, covering 19 of 26 chapters including intellectual property and investment rules. Thailand is separately negotiating its first North American free trade
Thailand's Department of International Trade Negotiations said the ASEAN Secretariat is hosting the 19th round of ASEAN-Canada Free Trade Agreement (ACAFTA) talks from June 30 to July 3, 2025, in Jakarta, Indonesia, to complete negotiations by year's end. The talks are now 80% complete, with negotiations covering 19 of 26 chapters finalized. In this round, negotiators aim to conclude seven additional chapters including intellectual property, services trade, rules of origin, technical barriers to trade, investment, preamble provisions, and anti-corruption measures.
The negotiations have entered a critical phase with both sides seeking to resolve outstanding issues including goods trade, rules of origin, government procurement, and sustainable trade and development. Both parties plan to hold continuous meetings in physical and online formats and have set a goal to announce final results during the ASEAN Leaders' Meeting in November 2025. Thailand is also separately pursuing bilateral trade negotiations with Canada, which would be Thailand's first FTA with a North American country, with talks expected to begin in the third quarter of 2025.
Bilateral trade between Thailand and Canada reached $3.915 billion in 2024, up 21.44% from 2023. Thai exports to Canada totaled $2.587 billion, increasing 21.25% year-on-year, while imports from Canada reached $1.328 billion, up 21.82%. Major Thai exports include computers, electronic equipment, steel products, canned seafood, rice, and rubber products, while key imports are electrical circuits, gemstones, precious metals, fertilizers, pesticides, plant products, and machinery components.
