I wrote an opinion piece in the Globe and Mail in January 2017, saying that a possible approach for Canada is to look beyond NAFTA as a three-way agreement and to consider a NEW BILATERAL TRADE DEAL with the US. Given the problems in resolving Trump’s concerns over Mexico within the NAFTA as it is… Read More »
“You’re going to pay a very large border tax”. That’s what President-elect Trump said at his January 11 news conference (if it can be called that) about US companies that manufacture abroad, repeating statements he repeatedly made on the campaign trail. It seems fair to predict this blustering will become actual US policy post January… Read More »
With Mr. Trump’s election as president, every carefully orchestrated American policy (like China and Taiwan) and every nuanced and finely negotiated treaty (like the Iran nuclear deal) is up for grabs. That is equally true for trade agreements like the NAFTA, repeatedly slammed by Mr. Trump as the worst deal every signed by the United… Read More »
Here is my recent BNN interview of what seems to be looming for Canada in international trade with the Trump presidency likely to take a nationalistic and protectionist approach, not only regarding the ill-fated Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement but also in bilateral matters under the NAFTA. http://bit.ly/2fxxbaQ
As we try to come to grips with all the implications of the Trump ascendency, there are some important points for Canada to contemplate when it comes to bilateral trade matters. First, Trump will move quickly to demand re-negotiation of the NAFTA and while his acrimony is focused on Mexico, as a trilateral agreement Canada… Read More »
The investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS) part of the CETA is the focus of Wallonia’s objections to the deal. We can actually solve that roadblock. ISDS was never a sine qua non for Canada. We replicated the NAFTA model (making some later improvements) without any real thought or analysis of whether the Canadian investment community saw ISDS as… Read More »
There was a most unfortunate development in October 2016 preventing the European side from approving the Canada-EU trade agreement, formally known as the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). On 24 October, tiny Wallonia refused to allow Belgium to agree to the CETA, resulting in a cancellation of the planned treaty signature the same week… Read More »
Here is the link to a commentary of mine in the Globe & Mail Report on Business, 27 September 2016. It was written following the first presidential debate. http://bit.ly/2cKBfph In it, I say Canadians must not be naive to think our trade relations will be all sweetness and light under a Democratic administration. The protectionist mood… Read More »
Together with the 2016 Trade Remedies Primer, we’ve prepared a basic outline of Canada’s Export Controls and Economic Sanctions, to explain in clear and, hopefully, in non-legalistic terms how the system works. Like the trade remedies companion piece, it’s boiled down to the main ingredients. To get the primer, just click on the link below.… Read More »
My commentary in the 23 August 2016 edition of the Globe & Mail’s Report on Business suggests – from all the signals coming out of Washington – that the likelihood of US approval of the TPP Agreement is fading. See it here: http://bit.ly/2bM3DpD There may be a glimmer of hope but with key Congressional leaders… Read More »