OTTAWA – The European Union’s trade chief says she expects Canada to ratify a landmark free trade agreement within weeks.
EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom says she expects the Canada-EU pact to stand as an example of the merits of free trade for the protectionist Donald Trump administration in Washington.
Despite Trump’s anti-trade rhetoric, Malmstrom says there is still hope of a U.S.-EU free deal because Trump hasn’t formally declared the negotiations dead, unlike the Trans-Pacific Partnership which he pulled the U.S. out of in January.
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Malmstrom says the proposed U.S.-EU free trade deal has flown under the radar of fractious U.S. politics.
She also praised Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for a successful visit to Washington last month, saying it promoted “global interests,” not just Canada’s.
Malmstrom is in Ottawa for meetings with Trade Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne and Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland.