Let me be clear on one thing right from the start: I have never been in favour of the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). I don’t see how opening our borders to American produce and manufactured goods in any way assists the development of our manufacturing base. The clear winners are always going to be the importer of natural resources.
Canadians have been, and are still, primarily hewers of water and cutters of wood. Our very roots as a colony were based on the fur trade and providing lumber for the British shipping industry. Even the onset of the industrial revolution did little to change the face of our economy.
Initially we were home to British-owned manufacturers, but post World War II saw the government open the doors for American investment. In what falls under the "it seemed like a good idea at the time category", instead of subsidising Canadian entrepreneurs, a market was created to favour the foreign investor.
Take a look around Canada these days and notice how many of the major industries have titles ending in the words Canada Inc. or some such similar appendage. The term branch plant was created, it seems, for Canada’s economic relationship with American business.
There have been attempts to curtail this tendency over the years, but with implementation of NAFTA the chances of any Canadian company attempting to compete with their American counterparts are slim to non-existent. With a smaller home economy and no history of a manufacturing center, the resources are simply lacking.
This only makes the American government’s response to the finding of NAFTA’s extraordinary challenge panel concerning softwood lumber even more galling. For the third time they have found in favour of Canada; that our industry is not causing harm to the American industry.
In the Globe and Mail today the U.S. government is quoted as dismissing the ruling as irrelevant. To make matters worse, the Coalition for Fair Lumber Imports is now calling the resolution process unconstitutional, or, at the very least, constitutionally defective.
Article comments
1 - Al Jenkins
The United States are bullies. They make their own rules to suit themselves. They are not to be trusted on this planet.
Canada must now charge a surtax on all fuels and hydro and anything else the people of the US need of Canada.
This must now be an all out trade war.
2 - Taras Frost
NAFTA was a carrot that Brian Mulroney accepted in the selling out of Canada along with other nice Conservative legacies like the GST. It is one of the most US biased bilateral agreement in existence.
With the underlying move for increased protectionism south of the border. It may be time to revisit the entire agreement. As a native Albertan, gas and oil duties is something that would definitely wake the giant.
3 - Paul S
Face it. Canada gets the best out of NAFTA. Even with the softwood issue, NAFTA is far more beneficial to Canadians then Americans. If you want to be the one who puts a couple of hundred thousand Canadians out of work, go ahead, tear up NAFTA.
Well thought out and strategic tariffs are the best approach for Canada to use in this dispute.
4 - Ryan S
Al Jenkins,
Let's be honest with each other. There are only two things that Americans need from Canada: 1) Labatt Blue 2) Hockey Players
We've already got enough beers to choose from and hockey isn't our sport, Americans didn't mind not having hockey for a year. I say end NAFTA and watch Canada fall.
5 - Chris brown
Re: NAfTA
The NAfTA if the agreements was honoured by all parties. Unfortunately the architects of this were and are with out honor. instead they Let Corporate interests bend and stretch the the rules and laws to their favour.
It's not is by no stretch of the imagination a free trade agreement.(it's a farce) To continue to pretend that this agreement is working is an embarassment. Only constantly displaying to the world the weekness of it's northern subordinate.