International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland says she's tentatively booked to have her first face-to-face discussion with China in February as Canada explores a free trade agreement with the Asian giant.
In September, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang announced the start of exploratory talks with the goal of doubling trade between the two countries by 2025.
Freeland is also hoping to meet with the U.K.'s trade secretary, Liam Fox, as that country wiggles out of the European Union.
British Prime Minister Theresa May has said the U.K. will trigger the formal process for leaving the European Union before the end of March.
The U.K. was among the strongest supporters of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), the mammoth trade accord between Canada and the EU, and she said the country will be covered by it when the deal enters into force.
Here in Canada, the often-fraught softwood lumber file will likely keep the trade minister busy with discussions.
The previous agreement expired in the fall of 2015. A one-year standstill period prohibiting trade actions expired Oct. 12. The U.S. Commerce Department agreed earlier this month to begin an investigation of Canadian lumber trade practices following a complaint by U.S. industry.
Freeland said the U.S. sent in a new proposal at the start of December and Canada is working on its response. Those negotiations, however, have been with the outgoing Obama administration. Donald Trump will take over after his inauguration on Jan. 20.
