Trudeau advocates for U.S.-Canada trade
SIMI VALLEY, Calif. — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau subtly urged the American president Friday night to not tear down a decades old trade relationship in the name of “winning,” cautioning against a rush to build walls between their two countries.
The North American Free Trade Agreement has boosted the number of American jobs, of which nine million today are reliant on free trade, Trudeau said.
Ending that over what was akin to the score in a hockey game – “reduced to a balance of trade statistics or a tariff rate,” Trudeau said – would upend lives on both sides of the border in a manner no one can predict.
If free trade between Canada and the U.S. was a bad idea, “then there are no good ideas,” Trudeau said during his speech to local and state legislators.
The prime minister, speaking in a building named for the president who signed the landmark Canada-U.S. free trade deal, conceded that the accord being renegotiated had to be updated to help people left behind by free trade and a technological revolution.
“But in furthering these aims, let us not step back from the progress our countries have made with extraordinary effort since the post-war years. Let’s not raise fresh barriers between our peoples,” Trudeau said at the Ronald Reagan presidential library.
“That would harm the very folks who need our help most. The nexus point for this all is NAFTA.”
Trudeau has tried to make the case to Americans during his four-day swing through the United States that trade has been a boon for their country, despite their concerns. In Chicago, he suggested that ending that trade would cause economic disruption that could hurt Trump politically.
Trump’s threats to tear up NAFTA under the mantra of “America First” have cast a shadow over negotiations, which are stuck on key issues around auto parts, a sunset clause, and how to resolve disputes between governments and companies.
Trudeau said negotiators have already agreed on three chapters – rules around competition, small and medium-sized enterprises and anti-corruption measures. He said negotiators are also within range of closing “several more bread-and-butter chapters” at the next meeting.
There are still two rounds of talks before the congressional midterm elections in the United States, giving Trudeau a chance to pitch trade to people up for re-election and those in state legislatures, said Bruce Heyman, former U.S. ambassador to Canada.
“This is a very tricky moment. The president is completely unpredictable, he’s making decisions that make no long-term sense,” Heyman said outside the Reagan library.
“If we make the political heat too hot for the president, maybe he’ll make a decision that would enable us to stay in.”