The following is excerpted from the 26 September 2012 edition of The Globe and Mail.
Okay, it’s an admittedly corny metaphor, but think of Prime Minister Stephen Harper standing on the Pacific coast of Canada, casting fishing lines toward Asia.
Each line is trying to land a trade deal, and there are six lines in Mr. Harper’s hands. If he could land one or two deals, he’d be doing well. But he could also get all the lines tangled and wind up with nothing.
The Prime Minister, as part of his understandable (if belated) desire to do deals with Asia, is fishing for arrangements with India, South Korea, Thailand, Japan and a collection of countries in the Trans-Pacific Partnership. And he might throw a line in the direction of the biggest fish of all, one that appears willing to bite: China.
This commentary is available in its entirety at:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/fishing-for-a-trade-deal-in-asian-waters/article4567917/