Keeping up with turbo Trump

News that the U.S. is poised to launch a bilateral trade deal with Japan after bowing out of the Trans- Pacific Partnership should be a wake- up call for Canada to implement trade agreements with AsiaPacific economies or we’ll be left behind.

The Trump administration is working at breakneck speed on a number of files, and trade agreements will be no different. They’re charging towards new free trade agreements in the Asia- Pacific — starting with the lucrative Japanese market. For Canada, this means there is serious risk to our exports and the jobs they support if we don’t step up our game.

While threats about NAFTA and other policy changes south of the border are critically important in Canada, equally important is the need to focus on the pace at which others are moving on with their own bilateral trade deals.

Our global competitors in the Japanese market already have better access than Canadian exporters — and it’s getting worse. Australia recently implemented a free- trade agreement with Japan and the EU is close to concluding a deal of its own. Canadian agri- food exporters are getting squeezed because we’re facing higher tariffs than our largest com- petitors — a disadvantage that will only grow over time if it’s not addressed.

Canadians should care deeply about the meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Abe a nd U. S. President Trump, Friday. A Japan- U. S. bilateral agreement would leave Canada behind.

Japan, the crown jewel of the now- shelved TransPacific Partnership ( TPP), is a premium market that buys $ 4 billion per year in Canadian agri- food products. It’s a large predictable market for Canadian canola, ranks second for Canadian malt and Canadian pork, fourth for Canadian beef and is important for Canadian wheat and pulses.

It i s no surprise t hat t hings go awry when a trade- dependent country like Canada tries to compete in markets where our global competitors have preferred access. We lost badly in South Korea when Canadian agri- food exports plunged by $ 500 million after 2012 as we lagged our U. S., Australian and EU competitors in striking a deal.

What the TPP promised was a level playing field for Canadian exporters. And while the U. S. seems com- mitted to pursuing bilateral deals that put America first, they tend to only focus on tariffs, and do little to break down non- tariff barriers that prevent real access to markets. Canada is threatened on both fronts: potential unequal access and more limited agreements that provide fewer benefits.

Canada needs to implement trade agreements with the Asia- Pacific, starting with Japan, China, India, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines. Fully 90 per cent of our farmers depend on export markets and more than half of everything we produce goes beyond our borders.

Better access to international markets through trade agreements has helped Canadian agriculture and agri- food exports grow by 77 per cent to over $ 56 billion over the last 10 years.

We need a plan for competitive access to Asia-Pacific markets, and we need it now.

A JAPAN-U.S. BILATERAL AGREEMENT WOULD LEAVE CANADA BEHIND.