OTTAWA -- With the next round of NAFTA talks approaching, and uncertainty about where the U.S. stands from one day to the next, Canada鈥檚 International Trade Minister said there鈥檚 no clear 鈥減lan B鈥� if the trilateral deal gets torn up.
鈥淚t's not about a plan B, it's about (having) every eventuality mapped out,鈥� Francois-Philippe Champagne told CTV Question Period host Evan Solomon.
He said Canadians should be assured that there is 鈥渢he best team鈥� of negotiators working on the potential revamp of the trade agreement.
The next round of NAFTA talks are scheduled to start January 23 in Montreal.
鈥淲e鈥檙e looking at every eventuality that may happen鈥� we鈥檙e working under all scenarios,鈥� Champagne said, echoing Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland鈥檚 comments from earlier in the week, after senior Canadian officials signaled that there is an increasing chance U.S. President Donald Trump is preparing to pull the U.S. out of the North American Free Trade Agreement by using a clause within the deal which sets in motion a six-month withdrawal notice.
Following this a slate of Canadian ministers offered public reassurance that Canada would be ready for whatever comes from the U.S. administration as the talks near the sixth round.
鈥淲hat you saw this week was renewed vigour in defending Canadian interests鈥� It鈥檚 good to be firm, from time to time,鈥� Champagne said.
Shortly after the potential U.S. pullout was floated, Trump, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, offered a more hopeful view, indicating he would be open to extending the talks and was in 鈥渘o rush.鈥�
Champagne said he was encouraged by this.
The minister, in an interview airing Sunday, also downplayed reports that the progressive chapters Canada is pushing on things like gender, the economy, and labour are getting in the way of sealing the deal.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 not the case at all. The real issues we鈥檙e facing now are some of the same issues that were present at the time [of NAFTA鈥檚 creation],鈥� Champagne said, citing procurement and sunset clauses as examples.
Over the last year there has been a concerted approach from Canada to meet with U.S. counterparts at various levels of government to discuss the benefits of staying in the trilateral trade deal.
Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, deputy leader Lisa Raitt and a contingent of trade critics will be in Washington, D.C., next week to help Canada's NAFTA lobbying efforts. Their trip will focus on both providing their U.S. counterparts with information, as well as listening to them to determine what is needed to get the deal to go through.
Former U.S. ambassador to Canada Bruce Heyman said that there is 鈥渂road support鈥� among U.S. governors, in congress, and in the business community, but he鈥檚 concerned that NAFTA is being used as a 鈥減olitical punching bag,鈥� to score points with disaffected American voters who have been told NAFTA is partly the reason for their economic and job woes.
鈥淚 think NAFTA is being used as a scapegoat by this administration and the populist attitude that they have, and my fear is, that they鈥檙e breaking down all means of global trade and they鈥檙e becoming much more protectionist and isolationist. I fear what that will do to markets, to jobs, and long-term economic security of not only our nation, the U.S., but the global economy,鈥� Heyman said on CTV鈥檚 Question Period.
Meanwhile, UNIFOR President Jerry Dias, who has long called for the end of the deal is it stands, said Canada shouldn鈥檛 be 鈥減reoccupied鈥� with trying to get a deal just for the sake of it.
鈥淣obody in Canada, or in Mexico, frankly, is looking to throw a victory party for Donald Trump,鈥� Dias said.
