Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Canadian farmers are stepping up their campaign against a nearly complete Pacific trade pact they fear will destroy protections for local dairy, egg and chicken producers and endanger jobs. Farmers in Quebec, which produces 40 per cent of Canada’s dairy products, ran full-page newspaper advertisements on Tuesday warning Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations threaten […] Read more
Supply-managed sectors bolster defenses against TPP
Fast-track trade legislation passes U.S. Senate hurdle
Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters — U.S. President Barack Obama’s signature Asian trade push cleared another hurdle in the U.S. Senate on Thursday after a knife-edge vote moved the White House closer to gaining the power to speed trade deals through Congress. Senators voted 62-38 to give Obama a major victory and set up a speedy decision […] Read more
Canada says will defend dairy protection at TPP talks
Reading Time: 2 minutes Ottawa | Reuters — Canada will continue to defend its system of tariffs and quotas that protect dairy farmers, a senior official said on Monday, in comments that could worry nations negotiating a Pacific trade treaty. Canada is under pressure at talks to create a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) because concessions sought by the other 11 […] Read more
Election timing puts Tories in bind on Pacific trade talks
Reading Time: 2 minutes Ottawa | Reuters –– Canada is facing a tough squeeze at talks on a major Pacific trade treaty because the concessions other nations want it to make could cause serious problems for the governing Conservatives in this October’s general election. Canada, one of 12 nations aiming to create the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), is under pressure […] Read more
Canada risks being sidelined in TPP trade deal, Vilsack says
Reading Time: 2 minutes Istanbul | Reuters — Canada risks getting left behind in a 12-nation Pacific trade deal because it has been reluctant to negotiate opening its markets, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Thursday. Vilsack also told Reuters that longstanding disagreements with Japan over rice exports would not threaten the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and that the U.S. […] Read more
Trans-Pacific ministers’ meeting set for May 26-28
Reading Time: < 1 minute Mexico City | Reuters –– A ministerial meeting aimed at working toward a deal for the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact has been set for May 26-28, the head of Chile’s trade body said on Thursday. “The meeting is agreed, from the 26th to the 28th of May,” said Andres Rebolledo, head of the […] Read more
Fast-track avoids ‘mistakes from our past’ on trade: Obama
Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters –– U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday praised a bipartisan bill that would fast-track trade deals through Congress, urging lawmakers to pass it quickly so his administration can advance a trade pact with Pacific nations. “The bill put forward today would help us write those rules in a way that avoids the […] Read more
U.S. hopes to wrap up Pacific trade deal, fast-track soon
Reading Time: < 1 minute Washington | Reuters –– U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said on Thursday a Pacific trade agreement can be wrapped up in months and urged lawmakers to quickly move ahead with key trade legislation. Froman said although there was no firm deadline to conclude the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership, “we do feel that we can close this […] Read more
Pacific trade pact negotiators to meet in March
Reading Time: 2 minutes Washington | Reuters –– Chief negotiators for a Pacific trade deal will meet in Hawaii for talks in the second week of March, the U.S. trade office said Friday, a move which could delay a final agreement on the pact. Australian Trade Minister Andrew Robb said on Feb. 5 he hoped to agree on the […] Read more
U.S. lawmaker says Canada, Japan must cut farm tariffs
Reading Time: < 1 minute Washington | Reuters — Canada and Japan must open their markets to farm imports under a Pacific trade pact, the chairman of a congressional committee responsible for trade said on Thursday, adding that any country that cannot meet the deal’s ambitious goals should drop out. In prepared remarks, House ways and means committee chairman Paul […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
