Japan and Canada to start free trade talks

Japan and Canada formally agreed to launch talks on a bilateral free trade agreement expected to result in the first such pact between Tokyo and one of the Group of Eight major economies.The agreement was announced by Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and his Canadian counterpart Stephen Harper in Tokyo, on Sunday.Japan and Canada, which has abundant natural resources, concluded a joint study on the feasibility of a trade deal this month, saying the two countries' economies were largely complementary.

The US trade community, including your humble correspondent, was shocked to wake up this morning to the utterly insane and depressing news that President Obama and Korean President Lee Myun Bak have failed to reach a final agreement on the US-Korea FTA that would have cleared the way for the White House to send the agreement - completed and signed in 2007 - to congress for an up-or-down vote in 2011:

OTTAWA — The heads of Canada’s leading business lobby groups are urging the federal government to get on with negotiating a free trade deal with Europe. The groups issued a letter to assure Trade Minister Ed Fast that they will stand behind the deal, once it is negotiated, and help sell it to workers and communities across Canada.

BRUSSELS – Canada must offer the European Union broader access to its markets if both sides are to agree to a free-trade accord they have been negotiating since 2009, the EU’s trade chief said on Thursday. A free-trade agreement with Canada would be the European Union’s first such deal with a major world economy. The United States is watching closely because Washington will launch separate trade negotiations with Brussels later this year.

Last night, I lamented the last four years of politics-driven US trade policy stagnation and the United States' abdication of its traditional role as the world's global trade leader.  My longwinded essay was admittedly light on links and examples, but did happen to finger Canada as one of several countries that have left the United States in the trade liberalization/leadership dust over the last few years.

China's Premier Wen Jiabao Saturday called for talks on a bilateral free-trade agreement with South Korea as the two countries wrapped up a three-year joint feasibility study on the project."The two countries should start official talks on their free-trade agreement in the future," Wen was quoted as saying by Yonhap news agency at a meeting with South Korean business leaders in Seoul.

CALGARY — The political will is high to conclude a free trade deal between Canada and the European Union, even if negotiations to resolve outstanding issues are taking longer than expected, the head of the economic and trade section of the EU’s delegation in Canada said Wednesday.