WINNIPEG (Reuters) — Canada’s new agriculture minister said he is likely to support the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiated by the previous government.
The Liberal government elected last month, led by prime minister Justin Trudeau, has not taken a firm position yet on whether it will support TPP, which groups 12 Pacific rim countries.
“I suspect when I evaluate the whole thing, it will be something I support,” said Lawrence MacAulay, 69, a former potato and dairy farmer from the Atlantic province of Prince Edward Island.
“I see nothing today that would make me not want to support the whole package,” he said.
MacAulay also said the government is prepared to retaliate against the United States over a long-standing dispute over country or origin labeling on meat products, although he conceded that international trade minister Chrystia Freeland is in charge of that file.
Even so, MacAulay said he spoke with U.S. agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack and is hopeful that Washington will comply with a World Trade Organization ruling.
