Reading Time: < 1 minute Ottawa | Reuters — Recreational marijuana in Canada will only go on sale a few months after it is legalized later this year because the new retail system needs time to start working properly, Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor said Tuesday. The Liberal government says the new law must be in place by July 1 […] Read more
Marijuana can only go on sale months after federal law passes
Ontario pot firm Aphria selling U.S. stake
Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters — Ontario marijuana company Aphria said on Friday it agreed to sell its minority stake in U.S.-based Copperstate Farms to Liberty Health Sciences for $20 million. Boards of Aphria and Liberty have unanimously approved the deal, which is expected to close in the second quarter. Aphria has been looking to hive off its business […] Read more
NAFTA negotiations grind on
Reading Time: 2 minutes Montreal | Reuters — U.S. negotiators are holding firm in their demands for a wide-ranging overhaul of NAFTA, sources close to the talks said on Thursday, raising questions about whether any real movement is happening at the latest round of negotiations on the treaty. Officials from Canada, Mexico and the U.S. are in Montreal for […] Read more
Pulse weekly outlook: Australia makes progress with India, Canada waits
Reading Time: 2 minutes CNS Canada –– Pulse crop prices in Western Canada are holding steady while questions remain about the future of trade with India. India in November imposed a 50 per cent import tariff on peas and in December a 30 per cent tariff was placed on chickpeas and lentils. The tariffs were imposed overnight and left […] Read more
Canada in on TPP pact, to be signed in March
Reading Time: 3 minutes Tokyo | Reuters — Eleven countries aiming to forge a Asia-Pacific trade pact after the U.S. pulled out of an earlier version will sign an agreement in Chile in March, Japan’s economy minister said on Tuesday. Trade officials had been meeting in Tokyo to resolve rifts including Canada’s insistence on protections for its cultural industries […] Read more
Officials aim to forge ahead with TPP as Canada wavers
Reading Time: 3 minutes Tokyo | Reuters — As trade officials gather in Tokyo this week to try and forge ahead with a trade pact that U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned last year, the new 11-member club risks getting bogged down by resistance from Canada. The member countries of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), also […] Read more
Australia takes Canada to WTO over wine rules
Reading Time: 2 minutes Geneva | Reuters — Australia has complained at the World Trade Organization about Canada’s rules on wine sales, expanding a similar U.S. complaint against one province. In October, Washington accused British Columbia of providing an unfair advantage to local vineyards by giving their wine an exclusive retail channel in grocery store shelves and cutting out […] Read more
TPP seen critical for beef sales growth in Japan
Reading Time: 3 minutes Canadian beef producers could be out millions of dollars in new exports if Canada is shut out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Why is it important? Beef exports, especially from Ontario, have been growing significantly to Japan and elsewhere in Asia. Allowing other competitors such as Mexico and New Zealand better access to that market, […] Read more
Canada talks tough on trade as NAFTA talks’ endgame nears
Reading Time: 3 minutes London, Ont. | Reuters — Canada is talking tough with the U.S., stressing its determination to push back against what it says are unfair trade practices ahead of crucial talks to revamp the tri-nation North American Free Trade Agreement. U.S., Canadian and Mexican officials meet this month for the sixth and penultimate round of talks […] Read more
Mexico will leave NAFTA talks if Trump triggers process to withdraw
Reading Time: 2 minutes Mexico City | Reuters — Mexico will leave the NAFTA negotiating table if U.S. President Donald Trump decides to trigger a six-month process to withdraw from the trade pact, three Mexican sources with knowledge of the talks told Reuters on Wednesday. Reuters reported earlier in the day that Canada was increasingly convinced that Trump would […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
