Canada Lays Out Its Goals for NAFTA Update

Canada’s foreign minister presented four key goals when negotiations begin on Wednesday to update the 24-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement.

Chrystia Freeland says her government wants to reduce paperwork involved in shipping cars and parts across borders between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico; harmonize regulations affecting those goods; and toughen provisions about labor rights and environmental protection, Automotive News reports.

Freeland declares that Canadians support free trade. But she says they expect fair trade too and are wary of deals that put Canadian workers at a disadvantage over countries that pay their workers dramatically lower wages. Canada also hopes to simplify the ability of industry professionals to move across NAFTA borders for temporary work assignments.

Freeland says Canada’s agenda will include a new rule requiring all three NAFTA participants to review any new tariff imposed by a member to ensure it is fairly applied. That proposal is certain to clash with the Trump administration’s desire for the freedom to levy new taxes without challenge.

AN says the U.S. agrees with Canada’s suggestion to make labor and environmental protections a part of the NAFTA agreement. Those points were not included as enforceable elements in the original pact, and critics say the omission has enabled Mexico to keep its labor and production costs unnaturally low.