One of the big issues in the Canada-U.S. trade war — the one about language, culture and sovereignty no less — has been settled.
It’s remarkable what can be achieved when the two sides aren’t even talking to each other.
Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc posted on social media on Tuesday, “Canada welcomes that the U.S. is now withdrawing its positions on discoverability and labelling and is confirming that measures to promote French language and Canadian culture will not be subject to future U.S. trade actions.
“We look forward to further constructive U.S. clarifications on their other positions which would create the possibility of a mutually beneficial trade agreement that respects Canadian sovereignty.”
It appears LeBlanc was responding to an interview given by U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to the CBC that was at least forthright in setting out the U.S. positions.
Tariffs on medium and heavy trucks were always going to be heavier than autos, said Greer, who also made clear that returning manufacturing back to America was a prime goal.
“We are trying to reindustrialize 25 years after suffering from globalization where we lost five million jobs, 30,000 factories,” said Greer. “For weeks I’ve been clear about what we could deliver.”
It was the Canadians, claimed Greer, who “at the end” said that when they were talking of autos they meant “everything from a little escort to the biggest truck you can think of.”
Canada and the U.S. are agreed that tariffs on those trucks are an area of great disagreement. And considering the economic fallout, especially for Ontario, it is a red line for Canada.
On Saturday , Prime Minister Mark Carney pointed to a second issue that had caused the breakdown of talks accusing the U.S. of trying to impose restrictions on Canada pursuing free trade agreements with other countries.
“Unacceptable,” said Carney. “One thing we were not going to accept was any restriction on those deals.”
But listening to what Carney later said in his news conference, and what Greer told the CBC on Wednesday night, the issue is not so black and white. The U.S. and Canada may be a lot closer in their positions.
Greer said Carney’s characterization that the U.S. was trying to restrict Canadian free trade deals “goes far beyond anything we have discussed.”
He said Canadian provincial and federal officials wanted to create Fortress North America — “their term not mine” — which would require those within the north American market to “protect its borders.”
“We can’t have Canada be a place where you can get flooded with steel and aluminum from other countries and be used as a back door into the U.S.,” said Greer. “We have to have mutual protection.”
Carney made a similar argument Saturday.
When the prime minister was asked whether the trade restrictions required Canada to impose tariffs on other countries in conjunction with the U.S., Carney said, “There were elements of that in certain sectors.
“To be clear, we would see the merits of that as part of a comprehensive deal that made sense for Canada.”
Having an integrated auto sector, or steel/aluminum sector, meant that the U.S. and Canada had concerns about non-market economies and trans shipments through third countries. “Then it makes sense to align,” said Carney, adding, “We would be prepared to do that” within a comprehensive deal.
“But that’s us deciding to do something in our joint interest as opposed to being told to do something or being restricted from doing something,” said the prime minister.
Although, isn’t a trade deal about agreeing to do something that is hopefully beneficial to both countries?
On the issue of discoverability — the attack on our sovereignty — Greer was adamant that it was never a red line for the Americans.
“So first of all, importantly, President Trump, myself, and the U.S. government recognizes the importance and sensitivity of the French language in Canada, in Quebec, in areas in the Maritimes.
“I mean, that’s part of Canadian Québécois identity,” said Greer.
“This is something we talked about, but we showed a lot of flexibility. And our view is there is no way we would let a good deal go by for something like this. It’s like the farthest thing from a red line.
“It’s been presented in the Canadian press like some big thing that we held the line on. This is not true at all.”
It is astonishing, and welcome, that of three major issues one has been solved already, especially, as Greer revealed, “We don’t have open channels right now.”
But Greer was very aware of the mood in Canada and next steps.
“Our view is don’t retaliate, but I know how people are feeling in Canada and what they think. So it’s unfortunate, but it is what it is,” he said. “If there’s further retaliation from the Canadian side, we, of course, are not going to just sit down and take that.”
But Greer should sit down and so should LeBlanc. And the place to do it is at the bargaining table.
The problem with any war is that the conflict usually escalates to catastrophic proportions before both sides are ready to negotiate.
Let’s start opening the channels now.
National Post
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