Leaders make lofty vows at Three Amigos summit
BUT TRUMP FACTOR LOOMS OVER LEADERS’ LOFTY VOWS
Donald Trump’s shadow loomed over the nation’s capital on Wednesday, even as the leaders of Canada, Mexico and the U.S. unveiled an ambitious plan to wean North America off dirty energy and made the case for globalization.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto and U.S. President Barack Obama concluded the first Three Amigos summit in Canada since 2007 with a message of continental unity not seen in years.
They started by pledging that half of North America’s energy would come from clean sources by 2025. There were also promises to cut emissions from the oil and gas sector, support the electric vehicle industry and protect endangered species.
“This is what can happen when countries come together in pursuit of a common goal,” Trudeau said. “Today’s climate agreement stands as proof that co-operation pays off, and that working together always beats going it alone.”
There were also commitments to improve border infrastructure, stand up for human rights throughout the Western hemisphere, work together on cybersecurity and increase country-to-country-to-country discussions and dialogue. There was even a promise to cut down on excessive steel production.
Yet there was no avoiding the real possibility of Trudeau and Peña Nieto sharing the stage with Trump next year, if the controversial real estate mogul beats Hillary Clinton in November’s presidential election.
Trudeau and Peña Nieto demurred when asked about Trump, turning to old tropes about working with whatever person the American people elect as their next leader. At one point, Peña Nieto was asked about some previous comments in which he’d appeared to compare Trump to Hitler and Mussolini.
The Mexican leader said he had simply been talking about how some politicians try to use demagogy and political slogans to convince average citizens that there are easy solutions to difficult problems.
“Things are not that simplistic,” Peña Nieto said in Spanish. “To lead a country, to take on a responsibility, it goes beyond the easiest answer. It is complex and it is difficult to lead a country.”
While none of the leaders uttered the word “Trump” during their post-summit press conference, there was no doubting who Obama was talking about when he launched into a sharp critique of the presidential hopeful before heading to Parliament Hill to address the House of Commons.
Obama said a populist is someone who stands up for workers, advocates for social issues and economic opportunity for all, not someone who says something controversial to win votes. “That’s not the measure of populism,” he said. “That’s nativism. Or xenophobia. Or worse.”
The three leaders also roundly rejected the antiglobalization message by Trump. The U.S. presidential hopeful has seized upon American anger and fear in his bid for the White House. That includes threatening to tear up the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Obama and Peña Nieto also acknowledged the benefits of free trade and globalization have not filtered down to average citizens enough. The U.S. president, in particular, delivered a lengthy lecture in which he said ordinary people have a “legitimate gripe about globalization” because of rising inequality.
Obama said automation has had a more devastating effect on the “nostalgia” of being able to support a middle-class family with a manufacturing job and no college degree than the outsourcing of jobs to low-wage countries such as Mexico and China.
Rather, the three leaders argued in favour of working together to create a stronger North American economy while helping shape the rules to ensure the benefits do make it to average citizens. Trudeau also said the three leaders would strive to highlight how trade has been good for all three nations.
Yet one could also almost feel Trudeau being squeezed by Obama and Peña Nieto to sign onto the Trans-Pacific Partnership as they stood to either side of him and emphasized its importance. The Liberal government has said it is still studying the massive trade agreement.
Peña Nieto said Mexico supports the TPP “with enthusiasm,” while Obama called it “the right thing to do.” Trudeau, in contrast, made no mention of the agreement. Trump has compared the trade deal as “a continuing rape of our country,” while Clinton has said she would try to renegotiate it.