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European Union Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom delivers a speech during an event hosted by Canada 2020 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, March 21, 2017.CHRIS WATTIE/Reuters

Canada's trade deal with the European Union is set to take effect within a matter of weeks, establishing a new free-trade zone at a time when protectionist forces gain strength.

"We're building bridges, not walls," EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said at a talk in Toronto this week.

Once Canada's Senate approves the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), most of the deal would come into force on a provisional basis, cutting tariffs on everything from BMWs to shoes.

Following her speech at the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs, Ms. Malmstrom sat down with The Globe and Mail to talk about the landmark deal and the fight for freer trade.

Did you see the backlash against trade and globalization coming?

We felt it. Europeans are generally in favour of trade, but the anti-globalization feeling in Europe was tied up with anti-immigration rhetoric. That together makes for a powerful cocktail. It cooked into a massive anti-trade movement in five or six countries. Mainstream politicians didn't really know how to handle it. Very well organized, lots of demonstrations. And CETA got wrapped up in that.

How big a hurdle is the approval from each EU member state before CETA's final application?

We're now waiting for the provisional application, which will happen this spring. Member states have already started the ratification processes. We think the countries where it is most difficult might wait a little bit to see the results and wait for things to calm down a little bit. In most countries it will not be a problem.

Does the anti-trade movement have legitimate complaints?

We should have made trade agreements more transparent in the beginning. But at the time, there was no demand. It's easy to say now we should have published the mandates, we should have engaged more with the people, but when we started, nobody was asking for that. But there are some things to learn from that movement. In general, globalization has been beneficial, but people have lost out, yes. Globalization is uneven. Jobs that were there 10 years ago don't exist any more.

Is free trade to blame for that?

Lots of academic work is being done right now, confirming what empirically we've known for some time – that trade agreements per se do not destroy jobs, in fact they create many more jobs than disappear. But of course, many jobs do disappear. It's sad, but you can do things about it. For those who feel left out, there needs to be massive investment in training and skills.

Should the average Canadian worker support CETA?

Yes, it will bring about new opportunities, and it will bring down prices. But we need to work with real companies to show the benefits. That makes a difference. We need to find those examples of people who trade in real life.

It might help to emphasize greater access to European cheese.

I'm a big cheese fan myself, so I can relate.

U.S. President Donald Trump has held up trade deficits as evidence that the U.S. is being cheated by its trading partners. What do you say to that?

I think they have chosen to focus on some aspects of trade and not others. Trade deficits don't give you the full picture. To raise barriers, to have a border tax of 20 per cent, that will just lead to higher prices for American consumers, and it will lead to more expensive imports for American companies who need components in the value chain.

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