Canada's dance with Pacific Rim trade partners came down to timing: Chris Hall

Well, it took a while. But Canada is now ready tosign on to the Pacific Rim trade dealit turned away fromin Novemberafter three days of intense negotiations in Tokyo with the 10 other nations that resolved the Trudeau government's concerns over protections for Canadianculture and access to newmarkets for its autos.

At least that's the Canadian angle.

"Our government stood up for Canadian interests and this agreement meets our objectives of creating and sustaining growth, prosperity and well-paying middle class jobs today and for many generations to come," Prime Minister Justin Trudeausaid in opening his speech tobusiness leaders attending the World Economic Forum inDavos, Switzerland.

Some Australian media commentators provided a markedly different view on Tuesdayof what prompted the breakthrough. They portrayedAustralia and Japan as the key players in persuading a reluctant Canada to return to the fold, all served up with a sharp reminder thatTrudeau, alone, had almost scuttled, sabotaged and even screwed theother leaderslast November by refusing to attend a planned signing ceremony on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Danang, Vietnam.

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Whatever the view, whatever hard feelings Trudeau's actions back then might have fostered,the so-called Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership will now be signed in March by trade ministers.Formal ratification in all 11 countries would follow.

Once ratified, the CPTPPwill createanother giant free-trade zoneof 500 million consumers, while generatingbillions of dollars in new economic activity.

On that, at least, there is no dispute among the partners.

Standing up for Canada

"It hasn't been easy but we're finally at the finish line," said Australia's trade minister, Steve Ciobo,who, like Trudeau, is in Davos. "And Aussie business will be the big winners."

It's become the axiom of trade talks ever since Donald Trump became U.S. president to insist that a trade deal must be seen in terms of winning. Sowhat wins did Canada really get out of the negotiations in Tokyo?

According to International Trade Minister Franois-PhilippeChampagne, this countrygot a better deal than the one the other nations wanted to sign back in November.

"When we were in Danang we stood up for Canada. We said for this agreement to work for Canada we need to address specific issues," he said."You saw that we were forceful in our position and since then we have worked to get agreements with ourpartners, notably on the cultural sector ... to protect, defend and promote out culture across Canada."

"We also stood up for the auto sector, making sure we have a side letter for Japan to provide the greatest market access ever for the auto industry."

Canadian officials, speaking on background, said Canada obtainedbinding letters on culture with each of theother 10 nations that recognized Canada's right to protect its cultural sector.

The side letter with Japan is intended to resolve non-tariff trade barriers on automobiles, and requires Japan to give Canada the same terms as any auto makers in Europe and Japan. It also includes a formal dispute resolution process.

Canadian officials say both the letters and the dispute-resolutions mechanism are gains from the original deal.

A hit to the brand

These changes came despite the dark warnings two months ago that the deal was dead because of Trudeau's actions, that the remaining countries would move on without Canada, that the country and Trudeau's personal brand had been tarnished on theworld stage.

Instead, Canada used its status as the lone holdoutand its clout as the second largest economyin the groupafter Japan to push for and get more.

Tuesday's news out of Tokyo couldn't come at a better time for Trudeau, who weathered criticism not only for failing to sign the PacificRim deal in November, but who returned from China a month later without an expected announcement that the countrieswould begin formal trade talks.

For starters, it allowed Trudeau to stand before some of the most influential business leaders in the world to extol his government's commitment to more progressive trade, to reiterate his assertion that his government, as it did with the Europeans, closed a trade deal that includeschapters on the environment, labourand women's rights.

The news also came asNAFTA negotiators settled in for a sixth round of bruising talks in Montreal, whereDonald Trump'snegotiators continue to demandmajorconcessions from Canada and Mexico including guarantees of specific U.S. content in North American cars and a mandatory five-year expiry date and after the president pumped up his threatto walk away from the deal if he doesn't get what he wants.

Today, Trump'stwo partners signalledtheir intention to sign a new deal with Asia. It may not have a directimpact on the talks in Montreal, but negotiators now knowCanada is on the cusp of free trade deals with large new markets in both Europe and the Pacific Rim. It's a clear signal that this country is serious about lessening its dependance on its giant neighbour to the south.

And if coincidence is your thing, the announcement of this agreement in principlecomes a year to the very day after Trump pulled the U.S. out of the TPPleading many observers to conclude the deal would collapse without the world's largest economy.

It didn't.