NAFTA needs a true free trade champion

It has been reassuring to see Prime Minister Trudeau defend free trade so forcefully in recent days. He travelled first to Washington, for meetings with President Trump and top congressional leaders, and then continued to Mexico for meetings there. His message has been consistent: Canada is committed to making NAFTA work.

That’s the right message, and it can’t be said enough. Trump’s open hostility to NAFTA — he incongruously said this week that “NAFTA will have to be terminated if we’re going to make it good” — is disheartening and alarming. While we agree that the agreement would benefit from being updated, and can certainly understand Trump’s desire to play hardball in an appeal for domestic support, his attacks on NAFTA, free trade, and America’s international allies are dangerous. And not just to Canadians and Mexicans, but also to the tens of millions of Americans whose livelihoods depend on the free flow of goods and services that NAFTA and other agreements enable.

So yes, it’s nice to hear Trudeau speaking up for NAFTA. We are compelled to note, however, that his claims would be a lot more compelling, and his task potentially much easier, if he was more committed to true free trade.

In Canada, free trade is generally viewed favourably by Conservatives and Liberals alike, but always with caveats. Trudeau is no exception. Even while trying to impress upon the American and Mexican leadership Canada’s eagerness to get an updated NAFTA wrapped up, Trudeau continues to indulge in the kind of Trumpesque reflexive protectionist behaviour that threatens the deal in the first place.

Trudeau reportedly made a strong defence of Canada’s dairy supply-management system while visiting Congress. He also reportedly brought his government’s aerospace boycott to Washington, vowing Canada would not do business with U.S.based aerospace giant Boeing until it dropped its trade dispute with Bombardier, the Quebec-based manufacturer that consumes Canadian tax dollars like blackholes consume matter. He has also continued to insist that a revised NAFTA should include a gender chapter, even though trade agreements have nothing to do with the gender of the investors and labourers they affect.

Alas, our “real change” prime minister is really the embodiment of Ottawa’s status quo. That’s a pity. Canada needs a true champion of actual free trade, not just a champion of sector-specific deals and protections. If the Liberals were sincerely prepared to negotiate a free-trade pact, they might actually find it easier to convince Trump that a deal was not only possible, but truly beneficial for all.