Monday October 1, 2018
Rachel Aiello, Ottawa News Bureau Online Producer
OTTAWA – Canada has reached a new trilateral trade agreement with the United States and Mexico, after nearly 14 months of NAFTA renegotiations.
The new deal is called the United States Mexico Canada Agreement, or USMCA for short, according to a joint statement from Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.
“USMCA will give our workers, farmers, ranchers, and businesses a high-standard trade agreement that will result in freer markets, fairer trade and robust economic growth in our region. It will strengthen the middle class, and create good, well-paying jobs and new opportunities for the nearly half billion people who call North America home,” the statement said.
According to one high-level American source, the text of the deal was finalized around 9:30 p.m. Sunday, but issues remain around wording.
It will take time to sort through the text of the deal, and to evaluate the details to assess the winners or losers, though tonight all three countries are celebrating the deal as a win-win-win.
A senior Canadian official close to the talks tells CTV News that the deal is not 100 per cent finalized, but that as things stand, the Chapter 19 dispute resolution mechanism remains intact; Canada will have a full cultural exemption; and Canada will be making what the source described as “modest” concessions on access to Canada's supply-managed dairy sector, comparable to what was agreed to as part of the CPTPP trade deal.
Though, one of the senior U.S. administration officials who briefed reporters on background Sunday night described Canada’s concessions on dairy as “a big win” for American farmers. These officials also said the deal includes stronger rules of origin,a review and termination provision aimed at preventing the deal from becoming outdated, and an “ambitious” slate of other provisions related to the digital age.
Talks over the weekend have included looking at ways to protect against the Section 232 auto tariffs that Trump threatened again last week. The Canadian source said that an exemption will be made for autos, though it’s unclear what will happen with the currently-imposed steel and aluminum tariffs.
The Americans made the text of the agreement public tonight, with the leaders of all three countries likely to convene before the end of November to sign the deal.
“In short, we think this is a fantastic agreement for the United States but also for Canada and Mexico. It’s a great win for the president and a validation of his strategy in the area of international trade,” said one senior U.S. official.
The deal on the table is subject to the approval of the federal cabinet, which convened in Ottawa late Sunday night. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the cabinet meeting inside his office across the street from Parliament Hill, where high-level staff and Freeland had been working over the weekend to secure a NAFTA deal.
This gave cabinet members the opportunity to understand what is on the table and how it could impact their portfolios, or regions. It was an intense last-minute push from Canadian officials to get a trilateral deal before the midnight Sunday deadline.
Trudeau departed shortly after 11 p.m., saying that it was “a good day for Canada” and he would have more to say on Monday.
The federal cabinet was instructed to attend in-person, if they were in town, or to dial in on the phone to hear from Trudeau and his team. The House of Commons is scheduled to sit Monday morning.