TPP deal announced; $4.3B to help farmers

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(Updated) Stephen Harper is calling the Trans-Pacfic Partnership the largest trade deal in the history of the world, and the gold standard for trade deals going forward.

Canada is involved in the new 12 country trade deal with the United States and 10 other pacific rim countries. Once approved, it could result in eliminating or reducing tariffs on many products.

The TPP would wipe out or lower tariffs on pork, fruits, wines and spirits, canola, barley, machinery, minerals and forestry products. Canada will be able to sell more beef to Japan with lower tariffs.

Our country plans to spend $4.3 billion over 15 years to compensate dairy, chicken and egg farmers who will face more imports in their industry.

More foreign car parts would likely enter Canada, benefiting producers and consumers with lower prices but possibly reducing jobs for some Canadian auto workers. Cars will be allowed without tariffs as long as they have 45 per cent content from the TPP region.

U.S. trade rep Michael Froman announced “TPP brings higher standards to nearly 40 per cent of the global economy. In addition to liberalizing trade and investment between us, the agreement addresses the challenges of stakeholders space in the 21st century while taking into account the diversity of our levels of development.”

The party that wins the election will have to ratify the deal. Conservative leader Stephen Harper says the agreement would set a new gold standard for future global trade deals, protecting Canadian jobs today and create more for generations to come as it secures access to crucial markets overseas.

“Our view is that the rules that we’ve achieved along with the supports that we have, help the auto sector, mean that our auto parts sector is going to have, really, access without precedent to our major global partners, not just in North America, but in Asia and in Europe and I am very very optimistic, very confident that our sector will compete and will succeed, and of course we will be working with them to make sure that happens.”

The Liberals have said they would need to see the details of the agreement before throwing their support behind it, but have stressed they’re a pro-trade party. The NDP has said it does not feel bound by any agreement reached by the Conservative government.

Additional video: McMaster University political science professor Peter Graefe talks about what TPP could mean to the election campaign:

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