Justin Trudeau SNUBS Donald Trump and confirms agreement on Trans-Pacific Partnership
View attachment 935053
CANADA’S Prime Minster Justin Trudeau has snubbed US President Donald Trump by reaching an agreement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
The member countries of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTTP), also known as TPP 11, reached a basic agreement on the pact in November.
Last year
Donald Trump abandoned the talks, prompting fears the deal could be bogged down by resistance from Canada.
But Canadian PM Justin Trudeau announced an agreement has been reached on the Trans-Pacific Partnership in a high-profile snub to Mr Trump at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Speaking in front of a global business audience in Davos, he said: “Our government stood up for Canadian interests, and this agreement meets our objectives of creating and sustaining growth, prosperity and well-paying middle-class jobs today and for generations to come.
“We are pleased with the progress we have made to make this deal more progressive and stronger for Canadian workers on intellectual property, culture and the automotive sector.
“Trade helps strengthen the middle class but for it to work we must ensure the benefits are shared with all of our citizens, not just the few.
“The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership is a new step on that path.”
Canada was thought to be holding out to secure protection of its cultural industries, including movies, TV, and music in the agreement and said they would not be rushed into making a decision.
There are 11 members in the TPP including Australia, Mexico, Singapore, Japan and Canada.
The group had tried to thrash out a new framework after President Trump withdrew the US on his third day of office.
Tokyo took the lead in steaming ahead with the plans despite the omission of the United States.
Last month the International Trade Secretary Liam Fox said it would be “foolish” to rule out joining the pact post-
Brexit, but added it was to soon to discuss because the agreement had not been fully negotiated.
He said: “We don't know what the success of the TPP is going to look like because it isn't yet negotiated.
“So it would be a little bit premature for us to be wanting to sign up to something that we're not sure what the final details will look like.
“However, we have said that we want to be an open outward-looking country, and therefore it would be foolish for us to rule out any particular outcomes for the future. So we'll keep an open mind, and we'll want to talk to our global trading partners.”
During his speech in Davos, Mr Trudeau also said that Canada was working hard to convince the US President that the NAFTA trade agreement was in the interest of the United States.
He said: “We're working very hard to make sure that our neighbour to the south recognises how good NAFTA is and that it has benefitted not just our economy but his economy and the world economy.”
The US has pressurised Canada on the North American Free Trade Agreement after making more demands over the agreement.
Mr Trump said he knew it would make “a lot of people unhappy” to terminate the free trade agreement between the US, Canada and Mexico, but added it would actually be “good”.
He said: “We're renegotiating NAFTA now. We'll see what happens. I may terminate NAFTA.
“A lot of people are going to be unhappy if I terminate NAFTA. A lot of people don't realise how good it would be to terminate NAFTA because the way you're going to make the best deal is to terminate NAFTA. But people would like to see me not do that.”
https://www.express.co.uk/news/worl...nada-Justin-Trudeau-Trans-Pacific-Partnership
