Harper government on the cusp of 'pivotal' free trade deal with South Korea

  • National Newswatch

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty will unveil his 10th budget Tuesday, but the Harper government's biggest piece of economic news likely won't be in it: Canada is on the cusp of a free trade deal with South Korea after nine years of negotiations.A deal with Canada's seventh biggest trading partner has been a long time coming. Talks were launched in 2005 but were stalled for four years, in part due to the resistance of auto unions in this country, who claimed a deal would result in a growing trade imbalance and job losses.