Equitable benefits
The message is loud and clear: Renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is of critical importance to Atlantic Canada. The warning comes from the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council which repeats what regional governments and businesses have long known - that all four provinces have a lot at stake as talks opened this week to ‘modernize’ the 23-year-old free trade deal with the United States and Mexico. The numbers easily support those warnings. The Atlantic provinces exported $19 billion of goods to the U.S. last year, about 75 per cent of its merchandise totals. Close to 100,000 jobs in this region depend on exports to the U.S., about eight per cent of total employment. Atlantic exports to Mexico are small, but still amounted to $102 million in 2016. So, any Canadian setbacks encountered at the negotiating table will have a negative impact on this region. Exports of seafood, agricultural products, lumber, natural gas and oil are critically important economic generators for Atlantic Canada. There is a growing sense of unease that Canada’s negotiators seem a bit unconcerned with Atlantic regional issues. The U.S. is preoccupied with auto exports, B.C. softwood lumber and western oil. So it’s understandable those areas have the attention of Canada’s NAFTA trade team. But they cannot forget about the rest of us at this critical time. Canadians appreciate the comments from Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland who clearly stated that talks must ensure a more equitable spread of economic benefits. Or else, Canadians will lose faith in free trade and globalization.
While many involved with NAFTA are preoccupied with exports, imports, deficits and surpluses – and they certainly are important - Freeland argues that the ones most at risk are ordinary Canadians. The minister says there are too many communities in our prosperous nation where people do not feel prosperous – where they instead feel left behind by an economy that is increasingly divided between the wealthy one per cent at the very top, and everyone else. Without immediate action, Canadians may lose faith in our open society, in immigration, and in free trade – just as many have across the Western industrialized world. She really means the United States and Britain.
A new NAFTA needs to be more progressive through safeguards for labour, enhanced provisions for the environment, gender rights and improved relations with Indigenous peoples. Those issues are important to Canada, but certainly won’t rank highly with President Trump and his team. Trump, with so many domestic and foreign policy failures on his record, is desperate to get a win with NAFTA and appease his supporters. He made bold promises and opening statements Wednesday from the American side were belligerent and threatening. Tweaking isn’t on the U.S. agenda; it’s more like a massive overhaul.
President Trump told Americans that health care was complicated, as he tried to explain away his failures in replacing Obamacare. Well, NAFTA is complicated as well. There will be no easy agreement; it will take months of tough negotiations. Canada must remain firm.