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Harper hails Trans-Pacific Partnership, promises $4.3B to protect dairy farmers

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Harper hails Trans-Pacific Partnership, promises $4.3B to protect dairy farmers

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says the federal cabinet has already approved a plan to spend $4.3 billion over the next 15 years to protect Canadian farmers from the impact of the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Twelve nations, including Canada, have reached a tentative deal on the massive Pacific Rim trading bloc, which Harper bills as the largest-ever deal of its kind.

Harper says the historic 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.

He says the concessions Canada has made in the dairy sector are modest — an additional 3.25 per cent of foreign imports would be allowed — and cites the fund as more than enough to ensure dairy producers are protected.

The announcement marks a watershed moment in the Conservative leader’s election campaign, if not his time in power, and could alter the landscape of the Oct. 19 election.

But it still needs to be ratified in national parliaments and the NDP has already said it does not feel bound by any agreement reached by the Conservative government.

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.

According to the federal government, Canada’s dairy industry remains mostly intact, with a modest increase in permitted imports for supply-managed sectors, and farmers would be compensated for losses through a multibillion-dollar series of programs.

Foreign-made cars would be allowed into Canada without tariffs, as long as they have 45-per-cent content from the TPP region — lower than the 62.5 per cent regional-content provision under NAFTA.

Canada’s auto industry has been alarmed about the prospect of loosening domestic requirements for car components.

The Canadian Press

 

http://www.nationalnewswatch.com/2015/10/05/harper-hails-trans-pacific-partnership-promises-4-3b-to-protect-dairy-farmers/#.VhKNxCsVRv1

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