Parliament Votes to Ratify Canada Trade Deal and Send Trump a Message -<br />STRASBOURG, France — A landmark trade deal between the European Union and Canada cleared a crucial hurdle on Wednesday, a move<br />that proponents said served as a counterweight to protectionist policies advocated by President Trump.<br />The relative success in ratifying the deal, after some prominent delays — including one instance in which a Belgian regional parliament appeared to have torpedoed the<br />entire agreement — nevertheless contrasts sharply with the failure to agree on a mooted trans-Atlantic trade deal between the European Union and the United States.<br />Trade policy has pitted mainstream politicians who say modern deals do much to bolster prosperity while checking unbridled globalization against those — many from parties on the extreme right and left — who warn<br />that such deals relinquish national sovereignty and hand multinational companies too much power.<br />The ratification of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement by the European Parliament comes after seven years of tortuous negotiations, aiming to cut many tariffs on industrial goods as well as on farm<br />and food items, and open up the services sector in areas like cargo shipping, telecommunications and financial services.<br />“We want to make clear in this vote that we don’t want to build walls, we want to build bridges,”<br />said Manfred Weber, a prominent member of the European Parliament from Germany.
