The Trudeau government is changing tactics in trade talks with China and has picked agriculture as one of four priorities, reports the Globe and Mail’s Asia correspondent, Nathan Vanderklippe.
Instead of a comprehensive and broad deal, the government now aims to negotiate deals for agriculture, education, clean technology and tourism.
“The best way forward at this time is to focus on the art of the possible. And that is a sector-by-sector approach,” Treasury Board President Scott Brison said in an interview with The Globe and Mail in Shanghai today.
He and Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay are in China now and will soon be joined by Finance Minister Bill Morneau and Trade Minister Jim Carr.
Canada and China have completed four rounds of exploratory talks toward a comprehensive free trade deal, but the two sides have failed to formally launch negotiations. Beijing has resisted Ottawa’s demands for provisions on labour, economy and the environment.
A deal with China should give Canadian farmers a huge boost and would contain little threat to the supply-managed dairy and poultry sectors because China is unlikely to develop exports for those commodities.
