GHY Tradelines

(Terry Milewski – CBC News)

Often hijacked by international crises, the G8 summit has once again been waylaid – this time, by the slaughter in Syria.

Officially, the British host, Prime Minister David Cameron, had wanted the summit to focus on tax evasion and transparency in international trade. But even Cameron now says that Syria will be the dominant issue when the leaders gather in Northern Ireland on Monday and Tuesday. […]

Free trade stalled
All of this has overshadowed Harper’s attempt to coax European leaders to finally sign a long-promised free trade agreement with Canada. In London, Prime Minister Cameron was supportive. But differences remain on matters of government procurement, patent protection for pharmaceuticals and beef.

Both France and Ireland remain skeptical about Canadian demands for greater duty-free access to the European market for Canadian beef and pork. Read more here.
 

(Xinhua)

The prime ministers of Canada and Japan have pledged to collaborate on a free trade agreement between both countries.

The leaders made the commitment by phone Monday night when Canada’s Stephen Harper called Shinzo Abe, to congratulate him on his Liberal Democratic Party’s landslide electoral victory on Dec. 26 and his appointment as Japan’s 96th Prime Minister.

Just hours before the conversation, Canadian Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and International Trade Minister Ed Fast announced that Japan had agreed to open its market to Canadian beef from animals under 30 months of age effective this Friday. Read more here.
 

(Leslie MacKinnon — CBC News)

Prime minister fields questions in relaxed session at business forum in Ottawa

Canada has changed its views when it comes to trade to the point that protectionist feelings on the Canadian right are “virtually non-existent,” Prime Minister Harper told a business audience in Ottawa Monday.

Harper said critics who opposed the North American Free Trade Agreement 25 years ago “predicted the disappearance of Canada as a nation” and “took a credibility hit” as a result.

But Harper admitted he is surprised by the strong “protectionist discourse” coming from the United States.

Harper was participating in a question-and-answer “dialogue” at a meeting of the Canadian American Business Council, answering questions put to him by Maryscott Greenwood, an American government relations lawyer and former Clinton appointee to the U.S. embassy in Ottawa. Read more here.
 

(CBC News – Terry Milewski)

After a slow-moving summit with his Indian counterpart, Prime Minister Stephen Harper Wednesday told a business conference in New Delhi that trade ties between India and Canada are not developing fast enough.

Seeming frustrated by the modest achievements of his visit – which produced some incremental, sector-by-sector agreements but not the hoped-for Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement – Harper said the “untapped economic potential between us is massive and undeniable.” However, he added tartly, “massive and undeniable as that potential is, it will not develop itself.”

“It will take concerted efforts by both of our countries to reap all of the benefits that this relationship can yield.”

Harper said the limited gains so far were welcome, but not nearly enough. “I acknowledge that there has been progress. The Social Security Agreement is finally done. So too, at last, is the administrative arrangement to complete our Nuclear Cooperation Agreement. Our foreign investment negotiations have come much of the way.” However, he added, “We have to be serious about getting them over the finish line.” Read more here.
 

(The Globe & Mail – Steven Chase)

Stephen Harper congratulated Barack Obama on his re-election victory and signalled his relief at the defeat of a Michigan ballot measure that could have delayed a new Windsor-Detroit bridge.

“I know it was a very hard fought election,” Mr. Harper said of the U.S. presidential race that saw the Democratic candidate beat Republican rival Mitt Romney.

“We look forward to working with the president for the next four years,” the Prime Minister told reporters after touring a Sikh heritage centre in India’s northern Punjab region. “We’ve had a very good and productive working relationship; we’re both focused on jobs and the global economy, particular in North America,” he said while in Anandpour Sahib, about 82 kilometres outside the regional capital of Chandigarh. Read more here.
 

(Mark Kennedy — Postmedia News)

Prime Minister Stephen Harper will pay homage to Indian culture Monday as he visits the Taj Mahal – one of the world’s most significant architectural landmarks.

But within hours, he will be meeting business people to discuss a key priority that has brought him here – opening the door to more Canadian exports such as energy resources to the booming Indian market, and protecting foreign investors who plant their dollars here.

As well, Canadian and Indian negotiators have been haggling over the “administrative” details of a deal that would open the door to Canadian companies selling their uranium to India. Read more here.
 

(CBC News)

Prime Minister Stephen Harper met with Chinese President Hu Jintao on the final day of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation summit on Sunday, after witnessing the signing of a wide-ranging investment pact.

The two leaders watched as Ed Fast, Canada’s minister of international trade, and Chen Deming, China’s minister of commerce, signed the Canada-China Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement, which was announced during Harper’s visit to China in February.

“Our government is committed to creating the right conditions for Canadian businesses to compete globally,” said Harper. “This agreement with China – the world’s second largest economy – will provide stronger protection for Canadians investing in China, and create jobs and economic growth in Canada.” Read more here.
 

(CBC News)

Prime Minister Stephen Harper arrives today in Vladivostok, Russia for APEC 2012, the gathering of leaders from the countries belonging to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation.

For two days, beginning Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin will play host at a venue specifically constructed – on an island – for the APEC forum. Russky Island measures 18 kilometres in length and just 13 kilometres in width and normally has a population of about 5,000 people. But it will be invaded by delegations from APEC’s 21-member nations for a brief period this weekend. Here are some of the topics – on and off the official agenda – that could come up at the meeting. Read more here.
 

(Canadian Business)

In revealing plans for a second bridge linking Windsor and Detroit, Stephen Harper struck an unusually militant tone for what is typically a sterile, self-congratulatory occasion. “Whatever battles lie ahead,” the prime minister proclaimed, “this bridge is going to get done.” There was no mistaking his target: Manuel (Matty) Moroun, the famously litigious billionaire and the proverbial troll under Harper’s bridge.

View the article/graphic here.
 

(CBC News)

PM praises German leadership but won’t comment on Europe’s handling of crisis

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is touting Canada as an example for Europe in how to emerge from its economic crisis in a robust way and reiterating Germany’s support for a Canada-European Union free trade deal.

Speaking to reporters on Parliament Hill at the conclusion of her bilateral talks with Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the German leader said that Canada has “weathered the economic crisis quite well,” noting particularly its sound budgetary policy and strict rules for the banking sector.

Both leaders used their statements to voice support for the trade negotiations that are scheduled to conclude by the end of the year. Merkel pledged to do what she could upon her return to seek a speedy conclusion. Read more here.
 

(Bill Curry – The Globe and Mail)

Stephen Harper has won the strong support of Europe’s most influential political leader for his drive to conclude the biggest Canadian trade deal since NAFTA.

After a long evening of conversation over dinner on Wednesday at the Prime Minister’s summer residence and a morning meeting on Parliament Hill, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said everything Canadian officials wanted to hear.

The influential German leader promised to personally ensure that long-running talks toward an ambitious Canada-European Union trade deal are completed quickly.

“Once I go back to Germany I will see to it that these negotiations come to a speedy conclusion,” she said at a news conference after the meeting. Read more here.
 

(Les Whittington – Toronto Star)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel wrapped up meetings with Prime Minister Stephen Harper with a promise to push for early completion of the gruelling negotiations for a Canada-European Union free trade pact.

“We feel very much committed to this; we want a speedy conclusion of this agreement,” Merkel said at a news conference after four hours of talks with Harper on Wednesday and Thursday.

While the negotiations are taking place between Canada and European Commission officials, Merkel — as head of Europe’s largest economy — has considerable clout and her endorsement of the proposed pact was considered valuable by the Canadian government.

The free trade talks, while partly complete, are bogged down on pharmaceutical patent rules, intellectual property rights and trade quotas. Harper would like to have the deal wrapped up by year-end, but observers expect the negotiations to go into 2013. While Harper says such a deal would add billions of dollars a year to Canada’s economic activity, a Canada-EU pact would be controversial. Some fear higher pharmaceutical costs and tighter controls on copyrighted materials. Dozens of Canadian cities have also asked for an exemption from the agreement out of fear it would impinge on their ability to favour local companies for government procurement contracts. Read more here.
 

(CBC News – Janyce McGregor)

‘No-nonsense’ politicians likely to discuss Europe’s debt crisis

As political dates go, apparently this one was a long time coming.

Officials have been trying to arrange bilateral talks between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper for months. After failing to co-ordinate their schedules around successive G8 or NATO summits, Merkel finally arrives in Ottawa Wednesday afternoon for a whirlwind 24-hour visit.

This German visit is no stopover: officials emphasize that she’s journeying across the Atlantic especially to see her Canadian allies. Read more here.
 

(Lee Berthiaume – Postmedia News)

A game of give-and-take is expected when Prime Minister Stephen Harper welcomes his German counterpart, Angela Merkel, to Canada for an official two-day visit Wednesday.

Harper will be looking for Merkel, the leader of the European Union’s largest economy, to lend her support to a free trade agreement between Canada and the EU as negotiations enter the critical last stages over the next few months.

For her part, the German chancellor will ask Harper to reconsider his steadfast refusal to sending Canadian dollars across the Atlantic to help Europe contend with its ongoing economic crisis.

A German Embassy official said Merkel’s two-day visit was prompted by a personal invitation from Harper after numerous meetings between the two leaders at the G8, G20 and NATO summits.

The German official downplayed the significance of the free-trade talks in the upcoming visit, pointing out that the EU’s bureaucratic arm, the European Commission, is responsible for the negotiations and individual countries do not influence the outcome.

But speaking to reporters in Toronto on Monday, Harper made no secret of his plans to make the trade talks a high priority during Merkel’s visit. Read more here.
 

(The Globe & Mail – Campbell Clark)

Provincial politics at opposite ends of the country threaten to upset Stephen Harper’s international-trade agenda.

This prime minister has been able to count on allies in provincial capitals when it comes to trade. He could open talks that touch directly on provincial jurisdiction and count on leaders like Jean Charest and former B.C. premier Gordon Campbell to stay onside, and stay quiet.

That peace might not last.

Mr. Harper’s biggest trade goals include finally landing a major free-trade deal, with Europe, and advancing the sale of oil to Asia. But it’s an agenda that runs through the provinces, and after elections in Quebec and B.C., new leaders might derail his plans. Read more here.
 

(The Toronto Star)

The Harper government gets an A for effort on expanding trade globally but a much lower grade on actual successes, according to a new report by a high-powered economic group.

The project organized by Carleton University in Ottawa says Canadians have for too long relied on a “culture of comfort” in easy dependence on trade with the United States.

But exports to the U.S., which accounted for 87% of Canadian sales abroad in 2000, declined to 75% in 2010, the group says. “Depending almost exclusively on domestic and U.S. markets for future prosperity is not sustainable,” states the report, “Winning in a Changing World.” It was put together from national consultations by well-known business, academic and government figures, including project co-chairs Derek Burney, Thomas d’Aquino, Len Edwards and Fen Hampson.

Canada is involved in dozens of free-trade talks or pre-negotiation studies, as Prime Minister Stephen Harper often notes approvingly. But the Carleton study concludes Ottawa should prioritize its negotiations to take advantage of possible trade-liberalization rules with countries that are big enough to provide an economic jolt to Canada. Read more here.
 

(Bill curry – Globe & Mail)

Stephen Harper is bringing Canada into ambitious new Pacific free-trade talks, fulfilling a key pledge to reduce reliance on the United States but increasing pressure on protected industries to accept more foreign competition.

While the Prime Minister insisted nothing has been sacrificed to join the group, it’s clear that the controversial issue of supply management – Canada’s protection of its dairy, poultry and egg industries from foreign competition – is on the table.

“It’s going to be a real test of the appetite of Canada for trade liberalization,” said Andrew Cooper of the Centre for International Governance Innovation, who is observing the Los Cabos summit. “Of course, we’re going to have the problems of marketing boards and Canadian responses to the pressure that’s going to come. If it doesn’t come from Australia, it’s certainly going to come from New Zealand.” Read more here.
 

(Lee-Anne Goodman – The Canadian Press)

Leaders of the Group of Eight countries focused their attention on the European fiscal crisis on Saturday, with Prime Minister Stephen Harper arguing there are ways to resurrect teetering economies that involve neither devastating austerity measures nor massive stimulus spending.

“It doesn’t have to be an either/or situation; trade, for example, is a way to cultivate growth,” a senior Canadian government official said at the G8 summit, being held for the first time at this lush, leafy presidential retreat tucked away in the scenic Blue Ridge Mountains.

“Free trade deals create jobs and stimulate growth and don’t involve government spending a lot of money.” Read more here.

Related:

Harper to Eurozone: Stimulus Alone Won’t Save You (Toronto Sun)
Obama Touts ‘Emerging Consensus’ on Reviving Europe’s Economy (Globe & Mail)
 

(Global News)

Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced on Sunday an important new initiative that will bolster Canada’s efforts to address security challenges in Central America.

Managed by Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, the Canadian Initiative for Security in Central America, CISCA, will focus on police training, border security, enhancing regional dialogue, strengthening justice and security institutions, among other initiatives. Read more here.
 

(The Wall Street Journal – Alistair MacDonald)

President Barack Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper talked common cause on the Americas on Monday, but their two nations’ historic trade relationship is being tested anew by tensions over membership in a trans-Pacific trade group.

Mr. Obama, after hosting a one-day summit with Mr. Harper and Mexican President Felipe Calderón, said all three nations will take new steps to ease regulations with the aim of increasing trade among them and creating more jobs. The three also discussed immigration policies and the war on drugs. Mr. Obama said the U.S. would welcome both countries’ entry into the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a free-trade zone spanning the Pacific Ocean. And Mr. Harper reiterated his country’s eagerness to join the TPP, saying it was part of Canada’s “ambitious trade agenda.” Read more here.