Anti-Trump trade club

Carney offers to ‘broker a bridge’ to build giant anti-Trump trade club

The Canadian PM responded to questions about POLITICO’s reporting that Ottawa is spearheading conversations between the EU and an Indo-Pacific trade bloc.

By Graham Lanktree

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has offered to “broker a bridge” between the European Union and a fast-growing Indo-Pacific trade bloc this year to form a new anti-Trump trade pact.

Carney was responding to questions on Tuesday about POLITICO’s reporting that Ottawa is spearheading conversations between the EU and nations in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

“We can help broker a bridge between the two,” Carney said during a press conference as he unveiled Canada’s defense industrial strategy in Montreal.

“It's the opportunity to have a rules-based trading bloc of one and a half billion people with complementary economies, and also provides a basis potentially for further expansion out of that,” the prime minister said.

The CPTPP trade bloc includes Canada, the U.K., Japan, Australia, Mexico, New Zealand, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia and other Pacific nations.

The plans would bring nearly 40 nations on opposite sides of the globe closer together to reach a deal on so-called rules of origin. These rules determine the economic nationality of a product.

A deal would allow manufacturers throughout the two blocs to trade goods and their parts more seamlessly in a low-tariff process known as cumulation.

Carney said Canada is “in a unique position” to push talks forward with the 27 nations of the EU as it’s both a member of CPTPP and has the CETA trade deal with Brussels.

“We're not alone in this idea. It's one of the first conversations I had with the prime ministers of Australia and New Zealand — like-minded countries who see the merits in developing this,” Carney said, citing a “series of conversations” with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa and several CPTPP leaders about it.

Carney spoke with Keir Starmer about the talks on Monday, according to a read-out of their call.

“Stronger ties between the EU and CPTPP members will strengthen supply chains, unlock new opportunities for Canadian businesses, and reinforce a rules-based trading system,” wrote Canada's International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu on Monday. “Canada is proud to be at the centre of this momentum.”