Question Period Note: Exploratory discussions towards a potential Canada-Philippines free trade agreement

Canada and the Philippines announced the launch of exploratory discussions for a potential bilateral FTA on December 5, 2024.

• The purpose of exploratory discussions with the Philippines is to determine whether there is sufficient interest and benefit to pursuing bilateral negotiations with the Philippines, which would build on an eventual FTA with ASEAN.
• A bilateral negotiation could lead to commercially meaningful outcomes for Canada and the Philippines that go beyond what we can achieve in the ASEAN-Canada FTA (ACAFTA) context.
• Pursuing exploratory discussions with the Philippines is an opportunity to deepen our bilateral trade policy engagement with a key regional partner, while we continue to advance the ongoing ACAFTA negotiations.
• Exploratory discussions are not FTA negotiations; they do not pre-judge whether Canada and the Philippines will ultimately decide to launch FTA negotiations.

On December 5, 2024, in a joint ministerial statement at the Team Canada Trade Mission, Canada and the Philippines announced the launch of exploratory discussions for a potential bilateral free trade agreement (FTA). An initial exploratory discussion took place in 2015. Since then, the Government of Canada has conducted negotiations towards a potential FTA with the ten Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states, which includes the Philippines. Canada remains committed to the successful and timely conclusion of these negotiations.

The objective of exploratory discussions is to explore how a potential Canada-Philippines FTA could build upon the outcomes of an FTA with ASEAN member states and allow for the further elimination of barriers to trade between our countries.

The Philippines was Canada's third largest export market in ASEAN in 2024. In 2024, Canada-Philippines bilateral merchandise trade totaled $3.1 billion Canadian ($3.4 billion Canadian in 2023) with merchandise exports to the Philippines valued at $1.4 billion ($1.2 billion in 2023), while imports from the Philippines amounted to $1.7 billion ($2.2B in 2023).

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