Abe, Trudeau tout trade gains without U.S. participation

OTTAWA — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s whirlwind visit to Ottawa this weekend offered the Liberal government a rare chance to trumpet a strong international alliance in the face of unyielding strain with its two top trading partners.

But a gaffe by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau — referring twice to strong ties between Canada and China, not Japan — affixed a jarring asterisk to an otherwise warm and upbeat meeting between two allies facing the same common threats and challenges.

Trudeau kicked off a Sunday morning photo-op in his Parliament Hill office noting 90 years of diplomatic relations between “Canada and China,” but immediately corrected himself to Japan.

Later, in his opening remarks at a joint news conference, Trudeau said: “I am very, very glad that you were able to make such time for the tremendous friendship that we celebrate every day between Canada and China. Thank you, Shinzo.”

Abe’s visit comes as Canada finds itself between a rock and a hard place with the United States and China. The Trump administration is holding firm on punitive metal tariffs, while the People’s Republic’s ongoing imprisonment of two Canadian men following the arrest of Huawei’s chief financial officer in Vancouver has thwarted the Trudeau government’s Asian trade ambitions.

Abe and Trudeau celebrated their successful launch late last year of the rebooted Trans-Pacific Partnership — the 11-country Pacific Rim trade alliance that was rescued after President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from it in January 2017, nearly killing it. Trudeau said the new deal “stands in stark contrast with the United States withdrawal from that agreement,” and has given Canadian farmers an advantage over their American counterparts.

Abe said the entry into the new Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership — the CPTPP — has enabled Japanese consumers to enjoy “high-quality Canadian products in Japan.” He said he had “high hopes for further expansion of the export of Japanese high-quality products to the Canadian market.”