U.S., China trade barbs on tariffs as Trudeau meets with Pacific island leaders
PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea — Leaders from the world’s two biggest economies put Canada and its allies in the position of picking sides in the battle for world influence, as the United States and China outlined different visions for trade and investment on Saturday.
The tit-for-tat tough speeches on the first day of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders summit — bringing together 21 countries that account for 60 per cent of the world’s economy — framed the discussion that is expected to carry over Sunday when the leaders gathered here, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, try to hammer out a final agreement on a path forward for trade.
There are no plans at the moment for Trudeau to have a one-on-one meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping — although he has had opportunities to bump into his Chinese counterpart, both in the hallways of the busy summit and at a gala dinner Saturday night.
At the dinner, Trudeau sat next to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and spoke about a Pacific Rim trade deal, according to the Prime Minister’s Office. Trudeau and Abe will meet again Sunday, where the topic of that trade deal — known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP for short — is likely to come up.