A North American Free Trade Agreement

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Centre forTrade Policy and Law_The Institute for Research on Public Policy
A North American Free-Trade Agreement The Strategic Implications for Canada
Michael Hart
The Canada-US Free Trade Agreement came into effect on January 1, 1989, following a period of intense, and often emotional, public debate in Canada. The debate covered both the broad policy implications for Canada of developing closer formal relations with its southern neighbour, as well as the specific obligations contained in the Agreement. One of the incidental benefits of this process has undoubtedly been an increased public awareness of the institutional and legal framework for international trade and its importance to Canada as a trading nation.
Mexico has now indicated that it is interested in negotiating a similar free-trade agreement with the United States. This challenge from Mexico raises profound questions for Canada. Should Canada seek a seat at the table? Can Canada afford to let the United States and... Tovább

Fülszöveg

Centre forTrade Policy and Law_The Institute for Research on Public Policy
A North American Free-Trade Agreement The Strategic Implications for Canada
Michael Hart
The Canada-US Free Trade Agreement came into effect on January 1, 1989, following a period of intense, and often emotional, public debate in Canada. The debate covered both the broad policy implications for Canada of developing closer formal relations with its southern neighbour, as well as the specific obligations contained in the Agreement. One of the incidental benefits of this process has undoubtedly been an increased public awareness of the institutional and legal framework for international trade and its importance to Canada as a trading nation.
Mexico has now indicated that it is interested in negotiating a similar free-trade agreement with the United States. This challenge from Mexico raises profound questions for Canada. Should Canada seek a seat at the table? Can Canada afford to let the United States and Mexico decide issues that may have direct consequences on Canadian trade and investment? Is it possible to trilateralize the Canada-US FTA by including Mexico?
In this timely and provocative study, Michael Hart, Director of the Centre for Trade Policy and Law in Ottawa, answers some of these questions and concludes that it would be prudent for Canada to seek a seat at the table from the outset and convince the United States and Mexico to enter into a tripartite arrangement based on the existing FTA. He .argues that the convergence in trade and investment policy, practice and interests in the three countries over the past ten years has made the negotiation of such an agreement both feasible and desirable. Vissza