As Justin Trudeau and his Canadian delegation arrive in Singapore for his second Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit Tuesday, they may find this year's round of Asia-Pacific talks less stressful than they were in 2017.
A year ago, the 11 countries still interested in the Trans-Pacific Partnership were working feverishly to send a message to U.S. President Donald Trump's administration that the American withdrawal from their trade agreement didn't mean the rest couldn't proceed with the broad trade reforms they'd originally hammered out as a counterweight to China's growing economic power...
Canada still hopes to join East Asia Summit
With the signing ceremony for the renamed Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership last winter, followed by its ratification by the six countries required to bring it into effect Dec. 30, tensions have eased and the united front of the TPP-11 has re-emerged to counter increasingly protectionist American trade policy.
"Part of this trip will be to mend relations," Dade said, "go in with a little more ear to listen this time around."...
This was excerpted from the 12 November 2018 edition of CBC News.