The Canadian Chamber of Commerce is calling on Ottawa to conduct a charm offensive to defend Canada91裸聊视频檚 trade interests in the U.S. ahead of November91裸聊视频檚 presidential election.
The group represents businesses of various sizes across Canada, and says now is the time for a co-ordinated outreach campaign by the federal, provincial and municipal governments to protect cross-border trade.
That campaign would involve private businesses and aim to convince Americans that Canada is a boon to the U.S. economy, ahead of the scheduled review of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement in 2026.
91裸聊视频淲ashington has increasingly come to see its bilateral relationship as not as strategic, but as transactional,91裸聊视频� reads a letter dated last Friday.
91裸聊视频淚t would be a terrible mistake to think that we can wait until 2025 to ensure that CUSMA is preserved.91裸聊视频�
The group argues that thelooming presidential election will only encourage politicians to propose more protectionist policies that would sideline Canada.
When former president Donald Trump threatened to end the NAFTA agreement that had governed U.S. trade with Canada and Mexico since 1994, Ottawa launched a widescale effort to convince Americans they benefit from free trade.
Months of intense negotiation eventually landed a new deal in 2018.
The agreement, which came into force two years later, includes a 91裸聊视频渞eview and term extension91裸聊视频� clause that establishes a 16-year life cycle and requires all three countries to sit down every six years to ensure all are still satisfied.
That clock began ticking in the summer of 2020.
If it runs out in 2026 without a consensus, that will trigger a self-destruct mechanism of sorts, ensuring the agreement 91裸聊视频� known in Canada as CUSMA 91裸聊视频� would expire 10 years later without a three-way consensus.
Adam Taylor, an international trade consultant with the firm NorthStar Public Affairs, says Canadian provinces and companies could partner with Ottawa to make a similar push, but he said it91裸聊视频檚 best to quietly form a contingency plan.
91裸聊视频淧eople in the United States have given up on free trade, have given up on globalization and have begun to look very much inward. And that91裸聊视频檚 very much a problem for an outward, trade-reliant country like Canada,91裸聊视频� Taylor said.
91裸聊视频淲e should be mindful of it. I think if we go on too strong a charm offensive too early, it could actually backfire, and we91裸聊视频檇 put these issues onto the radar and insert them into the political dynamics south of the border.91裸聊视频�
Taylor, who has advised conservative governments in Canada on trade matters, said he thinks it91裸聊视频檚 likely that different levels of government with various political leanings would mount an 91裸聊视频渁ll-hands-on-deck approach91裸聊视频� to protect the national economy if Washington started looking at major changes to CUSMA.
But he argued that the Liberals need to do a better job highlighting the countries91裸聊视频� deep ties in fields such as military and intelligence, to hedge against the possibility that Americans see Canada as just any other economic partner.
President Joe Biden has launched policies that privilege American companies over foreign businesses, which Taylor said are 91裸聊视频渧irtually indistinguishable91裸聊视频� from Trump91裸聊视频檚.
While Biden91裸聊视频檚 administration hastweaked some of these measures after Canada warned of harm to trade flows, Taylor said both presidents have had Canadians businesses think about the possibility of CUSMA being eventually changed or even withdrawn.
Conservative MP Randy Hoback, the party91裸聊视频檚 associate trade critic who advises the party on U.S. relations, said Canada is already effectively undertaking such an approach, through the work of cross-partisan parliamentary visits to the U.S. and working groups involving legislators in both countries.
91裸聊视频淲hen you have a neighbour to the south that is so big and so important to our economy, you have to always, consistently be there with aggressive ideas in regard to things that we can do together, looking for solutions and heading off problems.91裸聊视频�
He said the Liberals could do a better job of getting their MPs to sell Canada91裸聊视频檚 brand to Americans. 91裸聊视频淚 think they91裸聊视频檝e been a little shy and they91裸聊视频檝e been too reactive,91裸聊视频� he said.
Hoback similarly said the business community could better collaborate with Canada91裸聊视频檚 embassy and provincial trade offices in Washington.
He said all those offices already help brief newly elected members of the U.S. Congress and Senate about the ties their regions have with Canada, including in tailored presentations by Canada91裸聊视频檚 ambassador in Washington, former trade negotiator Kirsten Hillman.
91裸聊视频淭his charm offensive, as they call it, should never stop,91裸聊视频� said Hoback. 91裸聊视频淵ou have new members (of Congress) coming in all the time, who need to have that background information to understand the dynamic of the relationship.91裸聊视频�
In its letter, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce also calls on Ottawa to have better export infrastructure such as ports and terminals for liquefied natural gas, so that Canada is able to change how it exports resources and commodities based on global demand and geopolitical shifts.
The group also wants more military spending to boost Canada91裸聊视频檚 chance of joining strategic partnerships in areas such as the Indo-Pacific.
Grantly Franklin, a spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada, said CUSMA provides for a 91裸聊视频渟table and predictable trading environment91裸聊视频� in North America.
91裸聊视频淐anada will continue to work through advocacy and outreach to communicate the benefits of trade and CUSMA both at home and in the U.S.,91裸聊视频� he said in an emailed statement. 91裸聊视频淭his is an ongoing effort that relies on a Team Canada approach leveraging business, provincial and territorial governments, and other (partners91裸聊视频�) engagement with U.S. counterparts.91裸聊视频�
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