Renegotiating
NAFTA – Obama style
in 2008, which many Americans and
Canadians supported. During that
campaign, Obama promised to renegotiate NAFTA. He also promised that
future trade negotiations with Canada
and Mexico would “be conducted with
a level of transparency that represents
the close ties among our three countries,” and that a Democratic administration “will seek the active and open
involvement of citizens, labor, the
private sector and non-governmental
organizations in setting the agenda and
making progress.”
Canada’s entry into Trans-Pacific Partnership
talks could mean unacceptable concessions
mainly to the U.S.
by Stuart Trew
The Obama administration calls its Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) a “high
quality” trade deal that will set a new global benchmark. There are currently nine countries involved in the comprehensive multilateral trade negotiation: the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Peru, Malaysia,
Vietnam, Singapore and Brunei. Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he’d
like Canada to be part of the deal during an APEC summit in Honolulu late
last year. Japan and Mexico are now also waiting on the sidelines. Will
these three newcomers get in on the action? Prime Minister Harper is
optimistic, but there is no reason any of us should share his outlook.
Even without draft text – Canadian
trade officials are as blind to the details
as most other observers – there are still
indications that threats to public policy
in the TPP are as high – even higher –
than the threats in ongoing Canada-EU
trade negotiations. At the top of the list
are drug regime and copyright changes
demanded by powerful lobby groups
in the United States. Hanging over
Canadian entry to the talks are also
demands from New Zealand and the
U.S. that Canada abandon or weaken
its tariff and quota system protecting
Canadian dairy, poultry and egg farmers from fluctuations in global food
prices that have hammered international farmers over the past four years.
Japan is being asked to open up its auto
sector and eliminate rules protecting
domestic rice producers. Keep in mind
demands come before these countries
are even allowed a spot at the table,
and before the countries can secure
anything in return.
As with the Canada-EU Comprehensive
Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA)
negotiations, Canadian participation
in the TPP may also require Canada to
26 Canadian Perspectives Spring 2012
give more legal protection for brand
name pharmaceutical drug makers,
GM seed firms, and major U.S. entertainment firms, among other intellectual property rights holders. Canada
conceded drug regime changes when
negotiating its first free trade agreement with the United States and again
in NAFTA. But pressure for greater
convergence with the United States
on drugs and copyright regulations is
relentless, given the reliance of U.S.
capitalism on near monopolies in these
areas. You sometimes see the process
described as the “enclosure of the intellectual commons,” which describes the
TPP pretty well from the perspective
of developing countries, which will
find it harder to purchase, let alone to
produce, cheaper generic drugs under
proposed trade rules.
These demands from the U.S., and
the possible inclusion of Mexico in
the TPP, have led some commentators
to refer to the TPP as a major NAFTA
renegotiation. However, it would be
on terms totally different from the
ones Obama campaigned for during
his Democratic leadership campaign
U.S. groups that supported the call
for openness and a different trade
vision from the one the previous
Bush administration initiated are now
fighting what they call the “NAFTA
of the Pacific.” But it isn’t just in the
U.S. – the fightback has gone global.
Opposition to the TPP is strong in
countries such as Australia and New
Zealand. There are concerns in almost
all areas – from intellectual property,
to restrictions on procurement and
development policy, to the risks to
farmers and food sovereignty, to the
extension of investment protections
and a NAFTA-like investor-state dispute process for the whole region.
Strong connections are being made
with civil society in other TPP nations
to protest these unnecessary investment protections.
The TPP is the CETA of the Pacific.
The Harper government may jump
directly from CETA into negotiating
this new TPP deal; both agreements
are expected to be signed by the end
of 2012. The Council of Canadians has
joined a global group opposing the
TPP and has created a new section on
our website to follow Canada’s request
to join the negotiations. Check in regularly for updates and simple actions
you can take to fight these and other
unfair trade deals being pursued by the
Harper government.
Stuart Trew is the Trade Campaigner for the Council
of Canadians.
The Council of Canadians | www.canadians.org