Canada boosts size of proposed Pacific trade pact
2012-06-20 15:56:40
Canada on Tuesday became the latest country to enter talks on forging a Pacific-wide trade deal, becoming the second largest economy to take part in the ambitious but difficult negotiations.
Attending a summit of Group of 20 major economies, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said that Canada was accepted as the 11th nation to enter talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, after Mexico's inclusion a day earlier.
"Opening new markets and creating new business opportunities leads to jobs, growth and long-term prosperity for all Canadians," Harper said in a statement issued at the talks in the Mexican resort of Los Cabos.
Once obscure, the Trans-Pacific Partnership has emerged as a key trade priority for President Barack Obama who has cast the potential pact as a way to boost US exports and jobs while preserving labor and environmental standards dear to his political base.
US Trade Representative Ron Kirk said that the Obama administration would consult inside the United States on Canada's inclusion into the "broad-based, high-standard trade agreement."
"Through TPP, we are bringing the relationship with our largest trading partner into the 21st century," Kirk said in a statement.
Canada would be the second largest economy in talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership which also include Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, United States and Vietnam.
Under rules of the pact, any member can block another nation from entering the talks. The nations have not offered a place in the talks to Japan, the world's third largest economy, where the TPP is deeply controversial.
Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda last year voiced interest in the TPP but faced fierce opposition from farmers, who have long enjoyed protection from foreign competitors and fear being swamped if the pact goes ahead.
Canada's inclusion could also complicate the talks. Canada's previous aspirations to enter the TPP faced opposition from New Zealand, which has insisted in the past that Ottawa liberalize its dairy industry.
New Zealand is the world's largest dairy exporter, with its cooperative Fonterra accounting for more than one-third of global dairy trade, while Canada tightly manages its dairy farmers to control supply and demand.