The Canadian Parvasi - Issue 16

The International News Weekly REGIONAL/CANADA
05
October 06, 2017 | Toronto
Ready for anything on NAFTA, says
Trudeau as he reaches Mexico
The Canadian Press
WASHINGTON: Justin
Trudeau departed the U.S.
capital for Mexico City on
Thursday, leaving behind
one country with mixed feelings
about the North American
Free Trade Agreement
and landing squarely in another.
The prime minister finally
acknowledged Wednesday
the possibility of North
America without NAFTA
after a day of Washington
meetings that included
pointed pessimism from U.S.
President Donald Trump
about the fate of trilateral
trade pact. Prior to sitting
down with Trudeau, Trump
said it would be fine if the
North American Free Trade
Agreement was just terminated,
although members
of Congress expressed hope
earlier in the day it could be
reworked. A similar tension
appears to exist in Mexico,
where President Enrique
Pena Nieto has pledged to defend
the deal, but some of his
senior leadership appear to
be laying groundwork for it
to fail. The country's foreign
relations secretary said this
week it would not be a big
deal for Mexico to just walk
away from the talks, and that
Mexico won't accept "limited,
managed trade" — an apparent
reference to demands
for higher U.S. and regional
content rules on products
like auto parts.
Meanwhile, a veteran
Mexican diplomat has expressed
fears about the possibility
that NAFTA could be
ditched in favour of bilateral
agreements, an issue raised
by Trump as well.
"Some of us in Mexico
think that on several occasions
our Canadian friends
have come close to throwing
us under the bus," said Arturo
Sarukhan, the former
Mexican ambassador to the
U.S., said at a NAFTA-related
event hosted by Dentons
law firm in D.C. on Wednesday.
"How do we Mexicans
ensure (our) Canadian
friends stay focused on a trilateral
approach?"
Trudeau was asked
whether a bilateral deal with
Mexico could be in the cards
should the trilateral talks
fail. He said he knows there
are other paths that could be
pursued, and they'll be followed
if necessary.
For now, he remains optimistic.
"I continue to believe
in NAFTA; I continue
to believe that as a continent
working together in complementary
ways is better for
our citizens and better for
economic growth, and allows
us to compete on a stronger
footing with the global
economy," Trudeau said. "So
saying, we are ready for anything
and we will continue
to work diligently to protect
Canadian interests, to stand
up for jobs, and look for opportunities
for Canadian
business and citizens of all
of our friends and neighbour
countries to do well."or her
accomplishments.
Be ready for life without NAFTA:
Stephen Harper
Agencies
WASHINGTON: Former
Canadian Prime Minister
Stephen Harper broke
his public silence on current
events by offering
a gloomy assessment on
the state of international
trade, describing antitrade
sentiment in the U.S.
as a long-term problem
that predates the Trump
administration, that lacks
an easy fix, and could well
result in the end of NAF-
TA.
Harper stepped into
the role of political analyst
during a panel discussion
in Washington
with a coincidence of timing
that bordered on the
surreal Wednesday. At
the very same moment,
Harper's successor, Justin
Trudeau, happened to be
a few blocks away at the
White House, discussing
the North American Free
Trade Agreement with
U.S. President Donald
Trump himself.
Powerful anti-trade
forces that extend beyond
Trump's presidency are at
play in American society
and aren't going away any
time soon, said the former
Conservative leader,
who's an ardent free trader.
Harper said he is advising
companies to start
planning for the possibility
of life without NAFTA.
"I believe that it is conceivable.
I believe Donald
Trump would be willing
to take the economic and
political risk of that under
certain circumstances,"
Harper said in a panel at
the Dentons law firm. "I
would not want to simply
bet that this is just all going
to work out. What's
driving this are some
very powerful political
currents that, frankly,
nobody — including Mr.
Trump — has really figured
out how to address,
and they're going to keep
coming at us."
Harper said he doesn't
believe a simple fix to NAF-
TA, with a few tweaks, will
satisfy Trump. He called
the president unpredictable,
but said one thing is
predictable — the political
need for Trump to point to
significant changes, given
that he's repeatedly blasted
NAFTA as a horrific
deal: "I just don't know
how you get from here to
there," Harper said.
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