Premier Scott Moe to join Prime Minister on trade mission to India

Premier Scott Moe will head out later this week to join the Prime Minister on the first part of his Indo-Pacific trade mission, heading to India, according to Moe’s office.

In a news release from the Prime Minister’s office, it said his trip will go to Mumbai and New Delhi and meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Mark Carney will then continue on to Australia and Japan with his delegation.

“The leaders will focus on elevating and expanding the Canada-India relationship, with ambitious new partnerships in trade, energy, technology and artificial intelligence (AI), talent and culture, and defence,” read the PMO news release. “He will meet with business leaders to identify investment opportunities in Canada and create new partnerships between businesses in both nations.”

The news release didn’t include any information about Moe’s participation.

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Moe mentioned the trip while speaking with guest host Taylor McPherson, on The Evan Bray Show Monday morning. He was talking about the need for diversity in exports in the wake of the uncertainty created by U.S. trade and tariff decisions.

Moe said, while there are direct impacts from U.S. decisions, there are also indirect impacts that have to be navigated, and he said that’s why Saskatchewan is heading to India.

“In Saskatchewan’s case, because we are so diversified, we start hunting right away and very quickly realize that there may be some indirect trade relations that need to be navigated as well,” said Moe.

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a number of tariffs put in place by the Trump administration, saying he didn’t have the authority alone. After that, India postponed new trade talks with the U.S. which were meant to finalize the terms of an interim deal announced earlier this month.

Last year, India implemented a 30 per cent tariff on all imported yellow peas – the market a good chunk of Saskatchewan’s peas go to.

Moe had a meeting with India’s minister of external affairs at the G7 Foreign Ministers Meeting in November last year to talk about the yellow pea tariffs.

“Saskatchewan and India continue to have a strong relationship,” said Moe in a news release at the time. “We will keep engaging at the highest levels of the Indian government to promote Saskatchewan and Canada as a secure and sustainable source of pulse crops and other food products.”

Saskatchewan’s government has boasted of a close relationship with India before – a Saskatchewan trade official was the first Canadian diplomat to have their credentials restored after Canadian diplomats were expelled from the country in 2024 amid political tensions. That person from Saskatchewan’s trade offices was the highest-ranking Canadian official in India for a time.

In 2024, Saskatchewan exported $1.5 billion in India including lentils, peas and potash.

Premier Moe joined Prime Minister Carney on another mission to China in January, when the two sides announced a trade deal to get rid of canola tariffs in China.

Moe on U.S. Supreme Court tariff decision

On The Evan Bray Show, Moe also spoke about the tariff changes in the U.S. – between the Supreme Court there rejected a number of Trump’s tariffs and Trump announcing a 15 per cent global tariff to replace them.

Moe said it appears Saskatchewan’s goods will still largely be protected by CUSMA, at least in the short term.

“It’s imperative that we keep CUSMA in place and maybe even expand it to some degree,” said Moe.

The premier said he thinks Americans are starting to see things differently when it comes to the U.S. President’s tariffs.

“That’s why it’s so very important for us at every level, whether it’s the national level with our Canadian government or at the sub-national level, to be engaging with Americans to find our way through what is a very uncertain environment,” said Moe.

Editor’s note: this story has been updated to clarify which portions of the trip Premier Scott Moe will join the prime minister’s delegation on.