NAFTA: Canada surrenders sovereignty to a bully . . . .

NAFTA: Canada surrenders sovereignty to a bully . . . .

Postby Oscar » Tue Oct 02, 2018 11:12 am

With its new trade deal, Canada surrenders sovereignty to a bully: Neil Macdonald

[ https://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/canada-usmca-1.4845494 ]

We're obliged to inform the U.S. of any intention to pursue negotiations with a "non-market" country

Neil Macdonald · CBC News · Posted: Oct 01, 2018 4:08 PM ET | Last Updated: October 1

So first, Clause 32. It's long-winded and uses code language, but basically, it says that if Canada wants a trade deal with China, it has to notify the Americans about any negotiations, and tell them the substance of those negotiations, and submit the text of any deal, "including any annexes and side instruments" in advance, for American scrutiny, and then, like a puppy, await Washington's verdict.

If the Americans don't like the deal – and it's a safe bet the Americans aren't going to like any deal that binds Canada to a rival economic giant – Canada will be summarily excluded from the new version of NAFTA, which will revert, at America's whim, to a bilateral deal with Mexico.

It's a breathtaking thing for Canada to accept, but unsurprising. It's of a piece with the Trump approach: brutalize allies and partners, insult them and club them into submission with crude threats like Trump's "motherlode" tariffs on autos and auto parts.

To paraphrase Trump's coarse inauguration speech, fair trade stops here and it stops now. America first, ladies and gentlemen.

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Oscar
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