Twelve nations, including Canada, have reached a tentative deal on the so-called Trans-Pacific Partnership _ a massive Pacific Rim trading bloc billed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper as the largest-ever deal of its kind.
After five days of marathon, around-the-clock negotiations, a deal has been reached to create the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which would cover 40 per cent of the world’s economy.
International Trade Minister Ed Fast says each minister came to the table with a clear goal of promoting and defending the interests of their own countries and own economies.
Fast says that often meant very tough discussions that take place — but at the end of the day, the 12 T-P-P partners have achieved something that some time ago, people didn’t think was achievable.
The proposed agreement reduces or eliminates barriers in a wide range of sectors and could lead to more Canadian exports of pork, beef, canola, high-tech machinery and a variety of other products.
It also entrenches new international trade standards in Asia, setting a template should any other countries in that fast-growing region _ like China _ want to join someday.
Other parts will be controversial in Canada.
Cars will be allowed without tariffs, as long as they have 45-per-cent content from the T-P-P region.
That’s lower than the 62.5 per cent regional-content provision under NAFTA.
Canada’s protected dairy sector remains mostly intact, with a modest increase in permitted imports for supply-managed sectors.
Farmers will be compensated for losses through a multi-billion-dollar series of programs.
Fast is praising the negotiators from all 12 countries for their “unflagging commitment” to getting a deal he says will “set the rules for the 21st century for trade within the Asia-Pacific region.”
The deal needs to be ratified in national parliaments _ and the N-D-P’s recent opposition to the T-P-P process is an early example of the political challenges in could face, in several countries.
The actual text of the deal is undergoing a legal review, and it’s not clear when it will be available.
