Trans-Pacific trade deal may be imminent

OTTAWA — The federal government is optimistic it’s nearing a deal that would see Canada agree to the Trans-Pacific Partnership as early as Tuesday, The Canadian Press has learned.

A government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing talks, said Ottawa believes the deal can be struck, even though it would still like to see more progress on negotiations surrounding the automotive and cultural sectors.

“We’re hopeful that a good deal can be reached,” the official said.

“We want a good deal, not just any deal.” The negotiations underway in Tokyo are the first high-level talks since the leaders of the TPP countries met in November on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Danang, Vietnam, where Canada resisted signing on.

The latest round of the Pacific Rim talks come as Canada faces a tough renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement. NAFTA negotiators from Canada, the United States and Mexico are meeting in Montreal this week.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been bringing up the Asia-Pacific trade pact in recent months every time he’s had conversations with leaders from the other partner countries, the official said. Over the last week, he discussed the deal with the leaders of New Zealand and Chile by phone.

The official said Trudeau also dispatched wellconnected Vancouver Economic Commission chief executive Ian McKay as his personal envoy at this week’s negotiations in Japan. McKay, a former national director of Trudeau’s Liberal party, has “deep knowledge” of business in Japan and was engaging with the Japanese government at the highest level, the official said.

McKay has joined Canada’s chief and deputy chief TPP negotiators in Tokyo for two days of talks that were scheduled to wrap up today.