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EU trade chief expects Canada will ratify trade deal within weeks

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March 21st 2017
Cecilia Malmstrom, Chief Trade Commissioner for the European Union, listens to a moderator before taking questions following a speech in Ottawa, Tuesday March 21, 2017.
Cecilia Malmstrom, Chief Trade Commissioner for the European Union, listens to a moderator before taking questions following a speech in Ottawa, Tuesday March 21, 2017. Photo by The Canadian Press

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.

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.

March 21st 2017

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