Ottawa/Brussels | Reuters — The European Union has convinced Canada to include a new way of settling investor claims in their trade deal, making it more likely that it will be passed and putting the U.S. under pressure to accept the same terms. The two sides wrapped up negotiations on the Comprehensive Economic and Trade […] Read more
Canada, EU finally settle trade deal after opposition
Environment commissioner criticizes neonic registrations
Ottawa | Reuters — Canada’s official environmental watchdog on Tuesday expressed concern that authorities were allowing the long-term use of pesticides linked to bee deaths despite not having enough information about the products. Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) can grant a five-year provisional license to some products to give manufacturers time to provide […] Read more
Canada to sign TPP, but undecided on ratification
Ottawa | Reuters –– Canada’s new Liberal government will take the “technical step” of signing a 12-nation trade deal next week but has not yet decided whether to formally ratify the agreement, Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland said Monday. Canada is one of 12 nations that initialed the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in early October after years […] Read more
Canada seen dawdling on TPP ratification
Reuters — Canada is set to hold back on ratifying a key Asia-Pacific trade treaty, a move that would assuage critics but might hamper Washington’s bid to build domestic support for the deal, according to sources close to the talks. Canada is one of 12 nations that initialed the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in early October, […] Read more
Election shifts attention to trade deal as race narrows
Ottawa | Reuters –– Trailing in second place with two weeks left before Canada’s election, Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced a new trade deal Monday that largely protects the key agricultural voting bloc, putting pressure on opponents who had hoped to have more to attack. Harper touted the Trans-Pacific Partnership as a good deal […] Read more
Canada says TPP offers limited access to dairy market
Ottawa | Reuters — Canada said on Monday that a major trade deal agreed by 12 Pacific nations would only allow limited access to protected Canadian domestic dairy and poultry markets, a politically sensitive issue ahead of the Oct. 19 election. Officials said the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) would offer up just 3.25 per cent of […] Read more
NDP would not feel bound by Pacific trade deal
Ottawa | Reuters — Canada’s main opposition party said Friday that if it won an Oct. 19 election, it would not feel bound by the terms of a major Pacific trade deal the ruling Conservatives are negotiating in the United States. The New Democrats, currently trailing third in the polls, said in a letter to […] Read more
Farmers, upset over TPP talks, take cows to Parliament
Ottawa | Reuters — Unhappy Canadian dairy farmers parked dozens of tractors in central Ottawa and walked their cows down the main street opposite Parliament on Tuesday to protest trade talks they said could cripple them. Canada is one of 12 Pacific Rim countries trying to nail down a trade deal in Atlanta this week. […] Read more
Dairy farmers worry Trans-Pacific trade deal could hurt
Ottawa | Reuters — Canada’s powerful dairy industry on Friday expressed concern it could suffer if talks to create a Pacific trade treaty open up heavily protected Canadian markets to more foreign competition. Some of the 12 nations taking part in negotiations on a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) want Canada to start dismantling a system known […] Read more
Canada must be part of TPP, will defend farmers: Harper
Ottawa | Reuters — Canada must join a proposed Pacific trade pact but will strive to protect farmers, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Thursday, referring to foreign pressure to scrap tariffs that protect the dairy industry. Some of the 12 nations taking part in talks on a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) want Canada to start dismantling […] Read more
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