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Failure to ultimately reach an accord would undermine Harper’s efforts to diversify Canada’s trade away from the U.S., its largest trading partner. While Harper has made free trade a key plank of his economic agenda, completing six accords since 2006, none have been with major economies.

“The longer the matter is not brought to a conclusion, the more likely it becomes that the European Union will turn its attention to the U.S.,” said Lawrence Herman, a lawyer at Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP in Toronto who specializes in trade issues, by telephone June 7. If a pact isn’t reached in the next few weeks, it would represent “a rather serious setback for Canadian trade policy, given all the efforts of the Harper administration,” he said.

Biggest Deal

Harper returns to Ottawa Tuesday night after the summit’s conclusion, a day after Merkel joined U.S. President Barack Obama, U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron and European Commission President Jose Barroso in announcing that talks will begin next month on what Cameron called “the biggest bilateral trade deal in history.” Harper has no announcements scheduled Tuesday.

Cameron, speaking to reporters following the summit, said Canada and the EU made a lot of progress this week and are very close to a pact.

“One more go and it will be there,” Cameron said. “The pressure of this G8 I think really got through a lot of the final issues and it’s now down to the last few yards and I’m sure it will be done.”