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News that the U.S. is poised to launch a bilateral trade deal with Japan after bowing out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership should be a wake-up call for Canada to implement trade agreements with Asia-Pacific economies or we’ll be left behind.

The Trump administration is working at breakneck speed on a number of files, and trade agreements will be no different. They are charging toward new free trade agreements in the Asia-Pacific — starting with the lucrative Japanese market. For Canada, this means there is serious risk to our exports and the jobs they support if we don’t step up our game.

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While threats about NAFTA and other policy changes south of the border are critically important in Canada, equally important is the need to focus on the pace at which others are moving on with their own bilateral trade deals.

Our global competitors in the Japanese market already have better access than Canadian exporters — and it’s getting worse. Australia recently implemented a free trade agreement with Japan and the E.U. is close to concluding a deal of its own. Canadian agri-food exporters are getting squeezed because we’re facing higher tariffs than our largest competitors — a disadvantage that will only grow over time if it’s not addressed.