The Canadian government has shifted its focus from a comprehensive trade agreement with China to instead concentrate on achieving a sector-by-sector deal with the world’s second-largest economy.
Ottawa has settled on four individual sectors where it wants to sign smaller trade deals in hopes it can more quickly boost economic interaction with China in agriculture, education, clean technology and tourism...
In doing so, the Justin Trudeau government has signed on to recommendations by some Canadian businesses and the Public Policy Forum, which in October proposed individual sectoral deals as a way to create “a more diversified and growing trade portfolio for Canada that does not run afoul of the virtual veto given to our North American trading partners in the new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.”
Canada and China have completed four rounds of exploratory talks toward a comprehensive free-trade deal, but the two sides have failed to formally launch negotiations. Beijing has resisted Ottawa’s demands for provisions on labour, economy and the environment...
This is excerpted from 9 November 2018 edition of The Globe and Mail.