Ottawa/Winnipeg | Reuters — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday said Ottawa would soon announce help for canola farmers hurt by a China ban on imports of the oilseed but brushed off calls to pull funding for a Chinese-led investment bank. China and Canada are locked in a diplomatic and trade dispute that has […] Read more

Canada promises farm aid amid China canola spat

Third canola exporter runs into trouble in China
Ottawa | Reuters –– Chinese authorities have filed a quality complaint against a third Canadian exporter of canola, Canada’s agriculture minister said on Tuesday, potentially deepening a trade and diplomatic dispute between Beijing and Ottawa. Early last month, China cited the discovery of pests as the reason for blocking shipments of canola seed from Richardson […] Read more

Canada takes tougher line with China over canola ban, demands evidence
Ottawa | Reuters — Canada on Thursday took a notably tougher line with China over its ban on Canadian imports of canola seed, saying Beijing had provided no scientific evidence to justify the move and was hurting its own reputation. China, citing the discovery of pests, expanded its ban on canola seed imports on Tuesday […] Read more

Trudeau optimistic about making progress to end China canola ban
Ottawa/Chicago | Reuters — Canada is optimistic it can make progress this year in talks to persuade China to allow imports of Canadian canola seed to resume, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday, even as tensions between Ottawa and Beijing reach new highs. Trudeau spoke hours after an industry group said Chinese importers had […] Read more

Alberta to buy rail cars for oil
Ottawa | Reuters — The Alberta government is in talks to buy rail cars to transport 120,000 barrels per day of crude oil and expects a deal to conclude within weeks, Premier Rachel Notley said Wednesday, as the province takes actions to move oil stuck in the region because of a lack of pipeline capacity. […] Read more

Dairy issue nags as U.S., Canada prepare to sign trade pact
New York/Ottawa | Reuters — Dairy remains a sticking point between the United States and Canada as the countries prepare to sign a new North American trade pact this week, according to four sources familiar with the matter. U.S. objections to Canada’s protected internal market for dairy products was a major challenge facing negotiators during […] Read more

Trudeau vows to impose carbon tax, opponents push back
Ottawa | Reuters – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday said he would fulfill a promise to impose a carbon tax on provinces unwilling to combat climate change, prompting instant protests from a voter-rich part of the country. Trudeau, whose ruling Liberals face an election in October 2019, told a news conference that all the money […] Read more

Dairy farmers unhappy after meeting Trudeau on USMCA
Ottawa | Reuters — Canadian dairy farmers met Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday to discuss his politically-risky move to open up the protected domestic market to U.S. industry but complained he had not given them details about compensation. As part of the talks to complete the new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) trade deal, Canada […] Read more

Trudeau takes Quebec dairy gamble to preserve big trade deal
Ottawa/Montreal | Reuters — With his political future at stake, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will mount a charm offensive to placate dairy farmers who say he sold them out in order to win approval of a continental trade deal. Compounding Trudeau’s challenges in the influential province of Quebec, where many dairy farmers are based, […] Read more

Canada, U.S. deal saves NAFTA as trilateral pact
Ottawa/Washington | Reuters — The U.S. and Canada forged a last-gasp deal on Sunday to salvage NAFTA as a trilateral pact with Mexico, rescuing a three-country, US$1.2 trillion open-trade zone that had been about to collapse after nearly a quarter century. In a big victory for his agenda to shake up an era of global […] Read more