DANANG, Vietnam—Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said it shouldn’t have come as a surprise to anyone when Canada declined to sign an agreement-in-principle Nov. 10 on an updated Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.
Trudeau said Nov. 11 in Vietnam that despite some significant progress on the deal’s framework there’s still more work to be done, particularly when it comes to protecting Canada’s auto and cultural sectors.
His decision to keep negotiating for a better deal in the 11-country pact rather than striking an agreement led to the abrupt cancellation of a TPP leaders’ meeting on the sidelines of a summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation.
The move prompted international headlines because foreign media reports had predicted TPP partners would reach an agreement when they gathered for the APEC event in Danang.
But Trudeau argued he sent signals all week that Canada would not close the TPP treaty unless it was right for Canadians.
“We were not going to be rushed into a deal,” Trudeau told reporters at his closing APEC news conference.
“It should come as no surprise and it actually didn’t come as a surprise to people who'd noticed that I was saying that and have been saying that all week.”
Trudeau credited improvements made by TPP trade ministers at the summit for agreeing to several changes that moved the talks closer to an agreement.
He also said he didn’t snub TPP leaders by skipping Friday’s meeting—he missed it because his bilateral discussion beforehand with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe “went long.”
“We obviously had lots to talk about and at the end of that meeting it became clear that it was in everyone’s interest to postpone the leaders’ meeting on the TPP11,” he said.
After their 50-minute meeting, Trudeau said Abe, co-chair of the TPP leaders’ group, went to tell the other leaders, who had already gathered in the room, that the meeting had been postponed.
The cancellation set off a confusing day of talks. Media reports directly blamed Canada and Trudeau for helping to scuttle the scheduled meeting.
The remaining TPP countries have been working to salvage the deal, which was abandoned earlier this year by U.S. President Donald Trump.
A report in Australia’s Sydney Morning Herald said Trudeau “sabotaged” the talks at the last minute by failing to show up for the meeting. The New Zealand Herald said Trudeau’s “no-show” had delayed TPP talks indefinitely.
However, International Trade Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne announced progress had been made.
TPP trade ministers had agreed to a number of key changes to nudge negotiations closer to a deal and he said Canada would be better off because of them.
