Canada, Mexico Join Pacific Trade Talks

Canada says it will participate in talks with the U.S., Mexico and eight other countries aimed at creating an Asia-Pacific free trade agreement.

The group now includes countries with a combined gross domestic product of about $20.5 trillion.

The White House welcomed the inclusion of Canada and Mexico, its partners in the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Chrysler, Ford and General Motors hope the two new participants will throw their support behind Detroit's fight to keep Japan out of the talks. U.S. domestic automakers fear a pact would drop American tariffs on Japan-made cars and trucks of 2.5% and 25%, respectively, while leaving Japan's car market virtually closed to foreign competitors.

The other participants in the talks are Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. Japan is the only remaining applicant not yet accepted.