Changes are underway or are in the wind for Canada, just as she marked the occasion of her 150th birthday since Confederation, with impending trade negotiations with the United States looming on the horizon, and a major G20 summit meeting coming up in Europe, where Canada’s European trade agreement may be finalized, if the European partners assent.
In regard to NAFTA, U.S. President Donald Trump has been breathing threats about ripping it up since the election campaign, where he declared in his bombastic way that this was “the worst deal ever” in history for the U.S.
To say this was way over-stating things is not an exaggeration, but it is true that the deal badly needs updating, seeing as it’s over 20 years old, and there are outstanding trade issues that have been hanging over Canada for years, such as the softwood lumber trade with the U.S.
The Americans are currently unfairly penalizing the industry and in the process are hurting their own people, as the tariffs imposed on our softwood lumber is going to drive up the price for building homes in the United States — so it would be interesting to hear how President Trump is going to defend that in his protectionist attitude to keeping everything American.
Trade issues are complex, particularly when Canada is the United States’ largest trading partner, and revamping the entire NAFTA agreement will have an impact on every industry, including the all-important agricultural industry, and this hits home for every producer here in Saskatchewan. This province is a major supplier of every commodity of grain, oilseeds, pulse crops, dairy and livestock that one can imagine, and anything punitive that might be levied against Canada is going to have an impact on producers here and across the nation.
While Trump wants everything skewed to only benefit the United States of America, the agreement by definition means there has to be some give-and-take for both sides, plus there is a third partner to factor into the agreement, namely Mexico.
In regard to the European agreement, this is dependent on those countries being willing to come to an agreement with Canada. If we are successful in setting up such an agreement, it will hopefully provide even more markets for this country to export into, which would help if we end up being unfairly treated by our southern neighbours.
The one wild card in the midst of all of this is Donald Trump, and he may yet make things very interesting before all is said and done. — Greg Nikkel
