OTTAWA — Prime Minister Jean Chretien plans to meet Brazilian President Fernando Cardoso in Quebec City on Thursday night to discuss a trade dispute between their countries before this weekend’s Summit of the Americas.
Canadian officials announced Chretien’s schedule for the weekend on Tuesday and noted the first bilateral talks would be with Cardoso on the night before the summit begins.
Canada accuses Brazil of subsidizing airline maker Embraer, a rival of Canada’s Bombardier. The World Trade Organization has given Canada permission to impose retaliatory sanctions, but Canada has yet to take that step.
Brazil says it has stopped the practice opposed by Canada.
At a background briefing on the summit, Canadian officials said the trade dispute would be discussed by Chretien and Cardoso.
The fight was exacerbated this year when Canada banned imports of beef from Brazil, citing concerns about mad cow disease. Canada lifted the ban in February after a team of scientists visited Brazil.
Brazil called the Canadian ban, which the United States and Mexico had to follow under terms of the North American Free Trade Agreement, a ruse motivated by the trade dispute.
Chretien also will meet one-on-one with other Latin American leaders before and during the summit, starting with a state visit to Ottawa on Wednesday by Mexican President Vicente Fox.
A meeting with U.S. President Bush was scheduled for Friday in Quebec City. Others on Chretien’s schedule include the leaders of Barbados, Peru, Colombia, Argentina, Chile and El Salvador.
After the summit concludes Sunday, Chretien, Bush and Fox will have an informal lunch to discuss the NAFTA treaty, energy and other issues, officials said. It will be the first time the three North American leaders sit down together. Bush and Fox both won election last year, while Chretien is the longest-serving leader of the world’s major industrial powers.
