Harper in Japan to talk trade

Stephen Harper’s Asian tour continues as he arrived in Japan today to open free trade negotiations.

Harper will meet with his Japanese counterpart, Yoshihiko Noda, to begin talks that would liberalize trade between Canada and the world’s third largest economy.

Government officials say Canada has set ambitious goals for the talks after a joint study showed complimentary areas for economic co-operation. In addition, Japan is expected to relax restrictions on imported Canadian beef.

Harper was in Thailand yesterday where he discussed the problem of human smuggling. The government announced it has set aside $12 million over two years to help detect and prevent human trafficking operations.