Will the renegotiation of NAFTA include bulk water exports?

[Oscar]

Will the renegotiation of NAFTA include bulk water exports?

[ http://canadians.org/blog/will-renegoti ... er-exports ]

November 13, 2016 - 8:04 am

During the recent U.S. presidential election, Donald J. Trump described the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as "the single worst trade deal ever approved" by the United States. Shortly after Trump's upset win on November 8, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated, "I think it's important that we be open to talking about trade deals. If the Americans want to talk about NAFTA, I'm more than happy to talk about it." The Canadian ambassador to the United States has also noted, "We've got some things I think we'd like to see, and happy to have that discussion with him when he settles in."

Trump will be settling in very soon. He will be sworn into office on January 20, 2017. And Politico reports that a Trump transition team document suggests the Trump administration could trigger NAFTA's six-month exit clause as quickly as 200 days after taking office. That would be around August 9, 2017. While Trump's threat to leave NAFTA may not come to fruition, this all suggests that there could be a very intensive period of NAFTA talks from January to August. Exploratory talks between the Trudeau government and the Trump administration are likely even beginning now.

Trudeau is not signalling what he'll concede to keep the deal with the United States, nor do we know what specific changes Trump may be seeking.

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The Council of Canadians calls on Trudeau not to make concessions to the United States on water. We demand that rather than allowing water to be taken out of watersheds in Canada, that he negotiate water out of NAFTA.

Brent Patterson's blog
Political Director of the Council of Canadians
[ http://canadians.org/blogs/brent-patterson ]