Tractors, cows on Ottawa streets as farmers express trade talk fears

Top negotiators will gather Saturday in Atlanta, with trade ministers joining them on Wednesday in another effort to strike a deal, according to the statement.

An agreement in principle could be announced as early as Friday, but it’s not the first time an anticipated announcement has failed to materialize: the last round of negotiations in July ended in disappointment.

The United States and New Zealand, in particular, have been pressuring Canada to reduce its tariffs on foreign dairy products, which are among the highest of all TPP members.

“This government remains absolutely committed to making sure we preserve our system of supply management through trade negotiations”, Conservative Leader Stephen Harper said Tuesday.

However, Japanese Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister Akira Amari was not fully confident about reaching a final deal at the upcoming meeting: “It is hard to say (the probability of reaching an agreement is) 100 per cent. But we will make utmost efforts to make this meeting the final one”, he said after the meeting yesterday with Mr Abe and other ministers.

“Decisions to be made on whether we have such a system or not are decisions we want Canadians to take, not foreigners to take”.

In Vaughan, Harper maintained that the Conservatives are the only party that can deal with tough trade negotiations.

Tsuruoka told reporters ahead of the meeting with his counterparts that he hopes to make enough progress during their discussions that trade ministers can reach a broad agreement at their session. Part of the talks have centred around loosening the rules around what proportion of a auto manufactured in Canada must actually originate here.

Reports over the weekend suggest that the U.S. and Canada are both preparing to move on their highly protected markets, despite protests from their dairy sectors.

That tax will be phased out under the TPP, sparking fears in Canada and Mexico that low local content thresholds for autos will hand too much advantage to rival supply chains in Asia.

Meanwhile, at a campaign event in Winnipeg, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau said that there should be more transparency when it comes to trade negotiations.

“And our dairy farmers have every right to be concerned; I think that supply management is on the table”.