Details of Premier David Eby's upcoming trade mission to Asia were released on Wednesday (May 28) morning.
The mission to Japan, Malaysia and South Korea is being billed as part of the province's multi-pronged strategy to diversify trading partners in the face of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs.
Eby leaves on June 1 and returns to B.C. on June 10 with a goal is of promoting trade with these countries and attracting investment to B.C.
Eby will be accompanied by Agriculture and Food Minister Lana Popham and Paul Choi, the parliament secretary for Asia-Pacific trade.
"We've got to try and make up as much market as we can," Popham told reporters. "Right now, our biggest trading partner is the U.S. for our agriculture file, and we have to diversify."
Businesses joining Eby on the trip include Elk Valley Resources, Petronas Canada, FPX Nickel Corp., TC Energy and others. Representatives from several port authorities and universities will also be on the trip.
While the United States is B.C.'s largest trading partner, 41 per cent of the province's merchandise exports, totalling $22.5 billion, go to the Indo-Pacific market. Another $11 billion in service exports go to the region.
Japan is the third-biggest trade partner with B.C., with $5.6 billion in trade in 2024. Primary exports include coal, copper, natural gas, lumber and fuel wood, while imports include travel services, transportation services and maintenance and repair.
South Korea is B.C.'s fourth-biggest trading partner, accounting for $3.6 billion of trade involving a similar basket of goods and services.
Malaysia is a much smaller partner, with $162 million worth of trade. Imports from Malaysia are the same as Japan, but exports also include aluminum scrap and copper powders.
Malaysia was chosen at least partly because of the 25-per-cent Petronas investment in LNG Canada and ownership of significant gas reserves in northeast B.C. Japan's Mitsubishi Corporation also owns a 15 per cent stake in LNG Canada.
South Korean companies such as Samsung are also invested in B.C. Samsung has a research and development facility in Vancouver.
Other examples of major Japanese investors in B.C. include Daiya Foods, acquired by Japanese owners in 2017. The company's Burnaby plant has now grown to more than 400,000 square feet from roughly 65,000 square feet. This is now one of the province's largest food-manufacturing facilities.
Trade mission members plan to go to these corporate boardrooms and others and explain that B.C. appreciates their business and is looking for more investment.
Popham said the goal is to "pump up B.C. products."
"It's not hard to do that," she said "We've got just about anything you want coming from B.C. What I've been told over and over again [is] that it's the relationships that you make there that allow for trade expansion."
