[LINK] "With Trump presidency, some see chance for Canada to embrace China"

[rfmcdonald]

The Globe and Mail's Nathan VanderKlippe reports on the prospects that the Trump Administration might create an incentive and an opportunity for Canada to sign a free-trade deal with China. Should it? Would it be economically wise? What about the politics?

Donald Trump has vowed dramatic change to the U.S. position on the world stage, threatening new antagonism with China even as he pledges to scrap the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a massive trade deal that promised to drive down tariffs and impose a Western order around the Pacific rim.

It is a moment of upheaval, trade enthusiasts say, that Canada should seize by abandoning its qualms and embracing China in a way it has never done, as Beijing positions itself for a more prominent position of global leadership.

“The whole world is wondering what Mr. Trump is going to look like,” in terms of the policies and priorities he will pursue, said Derek Burney, former chief of staff to Brian Mulroney and ex-ambassador to the United States. “Well, we don’t have to wait. We could be moving right now to forge a closer relationship with China.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has already sought warmer ties with Beijing and, in September, placed Canada on a path toward a free-trade deal with China, with the two sides agreeing to exploratory talks. But that can be a slow process. It took Australia nine years and 21 rounds of negotiations to conclude a free-trade agreement with China.

If the Trudeau government pursues it strongly enough, Mr. Burney believes a Canadian deal can be done in two years, by cribbing from Canada’s approach three decades ago in negotiating the 1987 free-trade agreement with the U.S. – an approach that included a special cabinet committee dedicated to concluding a deal.