Dear International Trade and Investment Committee Members,
Here are the international trade and investment articles and publications of interest for the week of February 10 to February 16. This week’s edition has been curated by Anca Sattler. Anca is an associate at Gowlings in Ottawa.
Top News
- A multibillion-dollar deal to sell made-in-Canada light-armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia is being championed by Ottawa as a major success for Canadian diplomacy.
- A manufacturing export contract that is the biggest in Canadian history will create 3,000 jobs and billions of dollars across the supply chain. The 14-year contract for light armoured vehicles announced Friday at General Dynamics Land Systems Canada, is with Saudi Arabia, Ed Fast, Minister of International Trade, told a news conference.
- Canada has landed what officials said is the biggest export contract in the country’s history, providing a boost to its battered manufacturing sector, and helping to cushion the blow from disappointing factory sales data earlier Friday.
- A major job creation announcement will be made in London Friday by the federal government at General Dynamics Land Systems Canada. International Trade Minister Ed Fast will reveal details that should have a significant impact on manufacturing both here and across the country.
- President Barack Obama is set to meet his counterparts from Canada and Mexico, the other Nafta countries, next week, and the leaders are expected to discuss how the pact will fit into the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a new bloc under negotiation among 12 countries around the Pacific Rim, including U.S., Canada and Mexico.
- When Prime Minister Stephen Harper travels to Mexico City next week for meetings with his U.S. and Mexican counterparts, he can expect to find a country that is keen to show its neighbours it has moved beyond an era of debilitating battles with drug cartels and is turning its focus to economic growth.
- Canada opened a new trade office in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan today. Minister of State for Foreign and Consular Affairs Lynne Yelich made the announcement in a teleconference from Erbil, Iraq, at the end of a trade mission to the country.
- The federal government has helped secure a $10-billion US deal for a Canadian company to sell armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia, a country widely condemned for its human rights abuses.
- A U.S. Congressman has introduced legislation designed to clear a path to construct a new international bridge between Windsor, Ont., and Detroit, Mich.
- Vice President Joe Biden on Friday acknowledged concerns by fellow Democrats, including the top two in Congress, about President Barack Obama's free-trade agenda but defended the U.S. pursuit of a proposed pan-Pacific trade pact.
Other News of Note
- Enbridge Inc. says the U.S. State Department is taking longer than expected to review an expansion to an Alberta-to-Wisconsin pipeline. But executives with the Calgary-based energy shipper said Friday they're confident of getting a green light in time to expand the Alberta Clipper line to 800,000 barrels per day by the middle of next year.
- On February 12, the International Trade Commission held its first day of a two day hearing on Trade, Investment, and Industrial Policies in India: Effects on the U.S. Economy. Last August, Sen. Baucus, Sen. Hatch, Rep. Camp and Rep. Levin requested that the Commission provide a report on “Indian industrial policies that discriminate against U.S. imports and investment for the sake of supporting Indian domestic industries.” The report, due November 2014, is supposed to address a series of questions, which include the effect of intellectual property policies.
Government Announcements/Press Releases
- Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird will travel to the United Kingdom from February 12 to 14, 2014, where he will attend the London Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade at the invitation of His Royal Highness, The Prince of Wales.
- Erin O’Toole, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade, today participated in an event with more than 20 European ambassadors to Canada, including Marie-Anne Coninsx, Ambassador of the European Union to Canada, to discuss the significance of the Canada-EU trade agreement and its major benefits to both economies.
- The Honourable Lynne Yelich, Minister of State (Foreign Affairs and Consular), demonstrated Canada’s strong commitment to supporting Iraq’s democratic development by supporting an unprecedented four-day visit to the cities of Basra, Baghdad and Erbil. While in Iraq, Minister Yelich also opened a Canadian Trade Representation Office in Erbil. This was Canada’s first trade mission to Iraq in 25 years.
- The Honourable Ed Fast, Minister of International Trade, and Danny Deep, Vice President, General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada, announced today a historic multi-billion dollar contract win for vehicles and associated equipment, training and support services.
- While in Wellington, Baird will meet with New Zealand’s Prime Minister John Key and with Foreign Minister Murray McCully, as well as with other key government officials and business leaders.
Commentary
- Countries such as Canada and Japan must be part of Trans-Pacific Partnership, a proposed free trade bloc of 12 Pacific Rim countries, trade expert Yorizumi Watanabe says
- Ottawa wants to attract the best immigrants into Canada, and it’s sending its diplomats out to do the choosing. Canadian Immigration Minister Chris Alexander said potential immigrants with specific skills can expect a “tap on the shoulder” as part of a new scheme the country is drawing up.