Canada “has not stepped up” in negotiations for the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. He singled out Ottawa when asked if Japan should be dropped from the discussions because of unwillingness to open its agricultural markets to imports. The question, during a meeting of the CFTC’s agricultural advisory committee, came from Paul Penner of the National Association of Wheat Growers. Vilsack said progress was being made with Japan. “You could find an agreement that excludes a country. I don’t believe it will be Japan,” he said.
The TPP nations – Australia, United States, Japan, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, Mexico, Vietnam, Peru, Chile, Brunei and New Zealand – jointly account for almost 40 percent of the global economy.