USMCA can protect our sovereignty

Re New trade deal is a fraud, Oct. 3 In the era of globalization, trade agreements are not what they once were. Trade used to be about the exchange of goods between two countries, which included information on the volume of goods in question and tariffs. However, NAFTA ditched the old rulebook on trade by granting vast powers to corporations at the expense of public interest policies, the environment, and health and labour rights.

In fact, NAFTA was so successful in expanding corporate power that it has become a model for other trade agreements. At the same time, largely because of its Chapter 11, it has triggered the international campaign against globalization and for the protection of the environment.

Without any doubt, the most positive aspect of USMCA is the absence of Chapter 11, which was designed to protect the interests of foreign investors. It allowed multinational corporations to bypass domestic courts, government policies and regulations. NAFTA tribunals awarded millions of dollars in Canadian taxpayers’ money to multinational corporations that sued Canada over the government’s efforts towards toxic bans and forestry, water, environment and health policies.

It is true that Canada has made huge concessions, as Thomas Walkom highlighted in his column. However, the fact that the most destructive aspect of NAFTA — Chapter 11 — has been scrapped gives considerable weight to USMCA relative to NAFTA.

We understand that our economy heavily relies on trade. For future trade negotiations, Canada needs to develop a vision to understand how far we are willing to sacrifice our sovereignty for the sake of our trade interests.

Ali Orang, Richmond Hill