Negotiators are meeting this week in Singapore, trying to
advance trade deals in the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Their political bosses, ministers of trade or heads of
state, are due to attend next week.
Reuters news agency says a final deal is unlikely to come
out of this set of meetings.
The negotiators have been waiting for the United States and
Japan to come to an agreement on key issues – agriculture and autos – and earlier
this month Japanese news media reported that a deal has been struck.
It would feature a major decline in Japanese tariffs on beef
and pork, but over an extended 20-year period.
Canada’s farmers have a lot at stake in the Trans-Pacific
Partnership negotiations, mainly gains for beef, pork, grains and oilseeds
producers, but increased import competition for dairy and poultry farmers.
Whatever gains are made, Canadians are certain to face keen
competition from the U.S., Australia and New Zealand for agriculture markets.
