Hopefully the Liberals will learn from this

Let’s start with sincere congratulations — genuinely — to Justin Trudeau, Chrystia Freeland and the Liberal federal government generally on coming to terms with the United States on NAFTA’s successor. Whatever one thinks of this government, the Liberals faced a nearly impossible task. Donald Trump is unpredictable even at the best of times and, in this case, he had plenty of domestic political reasons to make the renegotiation of our decades-old trade arrangement hurt for Canada. It was, put bluntly, good politics for him.

Still, at what seemed like the 11th hour, a deal was announced. It’s not a perfect deal, but it maintains (more or less) Canada’s critical access to the U.S. economy, and preserves (again, more or less) the vital business relationships that both economies have benefitted from for a generation. This is a win for Canada — though admittedly only by the rather low standard of victory being defined as avoiding economic turmoil.

So ... hurray?

Still, although we’re pleased with the win, the entire experience proved underwhelming. Canadians should note that the basic outline of the deal is very similar to what a reasonable observer might have predicted as the outcome when negotiations began 14 months ago. Canada traded a small slice of its supply managed dairy, egg and poultry sectors, as well as some patent and intellectual property concessions, in exchange for continued access on a near-equal basis to the U.S. domestic market, as well as a dispute-resolution process that helps level the playing field during economic disputes. This was a key Canadian demand, given the disparity between our respective economies. Canada got it, and that’s very good, but we got it by making the manifestly predictable concessions. Could this not have been done sooner and with less drama in the meantime?

Perhaps not. Perhaps the American position was so resolute that this was literally the best that could be done, and the soonest it could be done. We’ll never know. But Canadians certainly noticed that the prime minister’s original, much-vaunted progressive trade agenda — a pact that reflected gender equality issues, environmental protections — didn’t end up making the cut.

Of course not. It was never going to. Renegotiating NAFTA was always about key, hard deliverables: cars, food, resources, patents, and, in the final analysis, jobs. After 14 months of uncertainty and aggravation, we have a deal that more or less protects those things, and only those things.

The Americans got what they wanted. Canada got what it needed. And hopefully the Liberals have learned from this. Trump’s unpredictability was all the more reason to get a workable deal as fast as possible (and this is also why we must ratify and enact this new United States-MexicoCanada agreement as quick as can be). The next time this government negotiates trade, let’s skip the progressive preening. Just focus on the deal.