EU and Canada Draft Sweeping 'Associate Member' Pact to Counter US Trade Leverage
The EU and Canada are preparing to announce a historic 'associate member' partnership at a late-October summit in Montreal, moving beyond the existing CETA trade deal. The draft agreement, leaked to Politico, covers critical minerals, defense, AI, and wildfire response, aiming to reduce mutual dependence on the US and China. However, the move has triggered threats from Washington to impose EU-style tariffs on Canada, while legal experts debate whether such a shift violates existing US-Canada trade agreements.