Canada, Mexico talked before NAFTA overtures
OTTAWA — Canada and Mexico reached out to each other while preparing similar public messages last week about being willing to engage United States president-elect Donald Trump in discussing amendments to the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Sources say the two governments spoke by phone before Canada made its sudden announcement about NAFTA the day after the U.S. election — comments later followed by a similar statement from Mexico.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto also spoke later in the week, after representatives of their respective governments kept each other abreast of their intentions.
“I don’t think anyone (in Mexico) was surprised (by our announcement),” one Canadian official said.
The day after Trump’s election stunner, the Canadian government said it was ready to talk trade. U.S. ambassador David MacNaughton said every agreement can be improved, so Canada is ready to come to the table with ideas.
He even suggested a possible change: adding softwood lumber to the agreement, so that the countries don’t continue re-litigating the issue every few years.
Softwood is on the list of things Trump might want adjusted in NAFTA, according to a purported transition memo obtained by CNN.
Other issues on the list include currency manipulation, country-of-origin labelling and environmental and safety standards, the memo reportedly says. It also says that on Day 1 of his presidency, according to CNN, Trump will inform Canada and Mexico of his intention to change NAFTA or have it cancelled.
The day after Canada’s announcement, Mexico’s foreign minister said her government was also ready to sit down and discuss NAFTA, its merits, and possible ways to modernize it, without renegotiating it entirely.
The snap announcement caught some offguard. Interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose suggested that with a self-styled killer negotiator as commander-in-chief, Canada had weakened its leverage by rushing to the table.
“Wow. That is some tough negotiating,” Ambrose jeered Wednesday in a speech to the Tory caucus, citing Trump’s reputation for taking a merciless, no-holds-barred approach to business deals.
“When it came to defending NAFTA, the most important trade agreement in Canada’s history, before even being asked, Prime Minister Trudeau offered to open up and renegotiate NAFTA.”
But Canadian officials — speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the situation — said the move was carefully considered.