Talk won’t be cheap

This, like most things related to the United States of America these days, will not be easy. The release of the U.S.’s list of priorities for the upcoming renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement made it clear that under the watch of U.S. President Donald Trump, the “America First” attitude is expected to prevail.

Any notion that our country might similarly employ a “Canada First” approach, or that America’s southern neighbour might be so bold as to suggest “Mexico First” as a preferred strategy for Mexicans will, of course, be viewed as pure silliness by the American side.

Trump, who has continually referred to NAFTA as “a disaster” since early in his presidential campaign, is determined to level the playing field for America — although, as he said in a speech, “if the playing field were slanted, like, a little bit toward us, I’d accept that, also.”

Of primary concern for Canadians is the U.S. demand for the elimination of NAFTA’s Chapter 19, which requires a binational panel to hear complaints about perceived unfair trade. These panels issue binding decisions, which have tended not to fall in America’s favour; the elimination of Chapter 19 would force Canadian companies to fight unfair-trade accusations in U.S. courts.

In keeping with the insular approach of the nascent but struggling Trump administration, the NAFTA priority list demands greater opportunities for American companies to bid on public contracts in Canada and Mexico, while at the same time declaring that the U.S. will allow individual states to maintain the Trump-trumpeted “Buy American” provisions that will hamper efforts by Canadian and Mexican firms to compete for work in the U.S.

One can only hope that in the coming months, the U.S. president’s current troubles with other international (read: Russian) issues don’t prompt him to seek an easy populist win by declaring new NAFTA talks are still “a disaster” and that “America First” should really mean “America Alone.”