Canada relieved trade deal done, won't forget Trump attacks
TORONTO — Oct 4, 2018
- U.S. President
Donald Trump vowed to make Canada pay after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he wouldn't be bullied in trade talks. Trump called Trudeau "weak" and "dishonest." He threatened tariffs on cars and slapped them on steel.
- The unprecedented attacks on America's closest ally left a bitter taste.
- The U.S. made few, if any concessions ... about 75 percent of Canada's exports go to the U.S., so preserving major elements of the North American Free Trade Agreement was crucial. Canada is one of the most trade-dependent countries in the world and Trump's talk of ripping up that deal and imposing a 25 percent tariff on the auto sector posed a serious economic threat.
- Roland Paris, a former foreign policy adviser to Trudeau, expressed relief that the deal is done but worried about the long-term relationship between the two countries.
- "Canadians won't forget Trump's disgraceful treatment of Canada. Our economic partnership has been reaffirmed, but trust can't be rebuilt with the stroke of a pen," Paris tweeted.
- The agreement reached Sunday shows a give-and-take between the two countries: It gives U.S. farmers slightly greater access to the Canadian dairy market, but provides Canada protection if Trump goes ahead with plans to impose tariffs on cars and auto parts imported into the U.S.
- If Canada or Mexico signed a deal with China, the U.S. could terminate its trade agreement with Canada or Mexico on a six-month notice. That may pose a problem for Canada which is eager to diversify its trade.
- "It's bizarre," Charest, the former Quebec premier, said. "I have never seen anything like that in a trade agreement."
- "The clause achieves a key policy imperative for the US; namely, shutting China's backdoor to North America through Canada and Mexico," Ujczo said. "Japan and Europe, as well as the rest of the world, should be on notice that this may be the price of admission to a trade deal with the U.S."
- Like many other Canadians, Rosen feels Canada hasn't been treated with respect, referring to the personal attacks and steel exports that are still subject to U.S. tariffs over what Trump calls national security concerns.
- "I am a Canadian. I am polite and respectful. Even when I'm dealing with a hard business issue I don't belittle people, I don't insult them," Rosen said. "As a Canadian, the whole approach that has been taken (by the U.S.) has been offensive and I don't think Canadians will forget it."
- Trump said last week he didn't like Canada's trade negotiator in an apparent reference to Freeland. And, at one point, Trump's trade adviser Peter Navarro said there was "a special place in hell" for Trudeau.
- "It has been shocking and disappointing and upsetting," said Bruce Heyman, a former U.S. ambassador to Canada. "It has been traumatic. I just don't think it gets wiped away and resolved with an agreement in principle on the trade agreement."
- Trump's mistreatment reinforces a worry among Canadians that their much larger neighbor is taking advantage of Canada, Heyman added.
- Bothwell, the University of Toronto professor, warned of lingering damage to relations.
- "Trump treated it like a real estate deal when he was a shyster in Atlantic City," Bothwell said.
- "But this is nation to nation. And that's different. And it's connected to other things," he added. "Trump really doesn't grasp that and doesn't care."
Canada relieved trade deal done, won't forget Trump attacks
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Canada agrees with new NAFTA deal
"The Donald" and his supporters probably don't care, but it was possible for America to conduct trade negotiations without treating its neighbor in a disrespectful manner - especially a neighbour with which it shares 5250 miles of "unwalled" border!
The Trump Administration had better hope that this outcome was really worth it, and not just an exercise whose sole purpose was to satisfy one man's ego - given that Canadians, for the foreseeable future, will be seriously questioning the supposed bonds of friendship that they had assumed existed between them and their American neighbors!