{"id":22459,"date":"2018-12-12T16:17:27","date_gmt":"2018-12-12T21:17:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=22459"},"modified":"2018-12-12T16:17:27","modified_gmt":"2018-12-12T21:17:27","slug":"mps-report-nafta-to-usmca-not-just-loss-of-free-trade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/mps-report-nafta-to-usmca-not-just-loss-of-free-trade\/","title":{"rendered":"MP’s REPORT: NAFTA to USMCA; Not Just Loss of \u201cFree\u201d Trade"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Leona Alleslev, MP
\nAurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill<\/strong><\/p>\n

Recently the Liberal Government agreed to the next version of NAFTA, now called the USMCA.
\nHow should the success of this new trade agreement be measured? To adequately evaluate the new agreement, the following three issues should be considered:<\/p>\n

1.\tLoss of Sovereignty vs. Trade Deal
\nThe USMCA is not just a simple free trade agreement between states, it also contains clauses that constrain Canada\u2019s freedom to set our own political and economic agenda; our sovereignty. Chapter 33 limits Canada\u2019s independence in monetary policy, and Chapter 32.10 states that the US must approve all future Canadian trade deals for our continued participation in USMCA.
\n2.\tManaged Trade vs. Free Trade
\nThe USMCA replaces some \u201cfree trade\u201d elements with \u201cmanaged trade\u201d conditions that restrict Canada\u2019s participation in the North American market. The USMCA gives American farmers increased access to Canada, while also eliminating regulations slanting the playing field in favour of the US. It also caps the growth of the Canadian Auto sector and raises Canada\u2019s cost of production jeopardizing our competitiveness. Additionally, the USMCA extends US patent protection resulting in higher drug costs for Canadians.
\n3.\tNo Relief on Punishing Tariffs
\nIn June, the Trump administration imposed punishing tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum, on the basis that these imports posed a threat to US national security. It was assumed that these tariffs would be lifted once a new trade deal was signed. Not only do these tariffs still exist, there is also a new protocol that makes it easier for the US to impose future national-security related tariffs against Canada.
\nSevere limitations on our sovereignty, increased restrictions on our \u201cfree\u201d trade, and punitive tariffs are elements that ensure this is a worse deal for Canada. But is a worse deal better than no deal because it removes the uncertainty? However, the uncertainty remains. There is no timeline for when the tariffs will be lifted, and no guarantee that new ones will not be imposed. The impact of the restrictive monetary policy clauses and our inability to diversify through future trade deals is unknown. Additionally, the negative impact of caps on growth and the increased costs of production, may drive jobs and future investment out of Canada. <\/p>\n

But was this the best deal Canada could get?
\nTo answer that question, the government\u2019s actions outside of the negotiating room must be considered. Canada\u2019s Minister of Foreign Affairs levied veiled criticism of the American President during a speech she gave in Washington, and participated in the \u201cTaking on the Tyrant\u201d panel discussion which compared Trump with Syria\u2019s Bashar al-Assad and Russia\u2019s Vladimir Putin, all amid NAFTA negotiations. Regardless of personal opinions, this is not behavior befitting Canada\u2019s highest diplomat during a free trade negotiation.
\nFurthermore, at the G7 in Charlevoix Quebec, Prime Minister Trudeau made inappropriate comments directed at President Trump which were not taken lightly.
\nThis pattern of undiplomatic behavior ensured that Canada did not receive the best trade deal. Now, Canadians must decide whether Canada should accept a bad deal rather than no deal.
\nAs always, please feel free to contact me by e-mail: Leona.Alleslev@parl.gc.ca, phone: (905) 773-8358, or drop by my office at 12820 Yonge St., suite 202 in Richmond Hill. My team and I are always here to help.<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Leona Alleslev, MP Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill Recently the Liberal Government agreed to the next version of NAFTA, now called the USMCA. How should the success of this new trade agreement be measured? To adequately evaluate the new agreement, the following three issues should be considered: 1. Loss of Sovereignty vs. Trade Deal The USMCA […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[29,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-columns","category-opinion"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-5Qf","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-02 02:32:39","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22459"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22459\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}