1/ Very insightful analysis by Frank Buckley, @brianleecrowley and Sean Speer on NAFTA negotiations.
“Remember, 20% of our economy depends on exports to the United States and less than 2% of their economy depends on exports to us. We can’t afford to get this wrong.”
“Remember, 20% of our economy depends on exports to the United States and less than 2% of their economy depends on exports to us. We can’t afford to get this wrong.”
@brianleecrowley 2/ Trump admin “isn’t going to be moved by ‘retaliatory’ measures. Enacting matching tariffs will harm Canadian businesses and consumers and escalate tensions with the U.S. government. It seems just as likely that Mr. Trump is emboldened by retaliation rather than dissuaded.”
3/ “The result would be an escalation of protectionism and higher costs for businesses and workers that would harm us far more than our neighbours. Cutting off your nose to spite your face is poor policy, however satisfying it may feel.”
4/ Realignment of US foreign policy is there to stay even after Trump. We can only protect Canadian interests by working on areas of MUTUAL interest with our neighbours. Plus strengthen our economy with a tax and regulatory package so that we can compete with them.
5/ My conclusion: We need a REALISTIC and STRATEGIC approach to keep free trade. The Trudeau/Freeland attempt to insert climate change, gender, Native and workers issues as they opened negotiations on NAFTA was plain crazy and reckless. Stop the useless virtue signaling!
6/ This government has no clue how to protect Canadian interests. Everything it has been doing on the NAFTA file is wrong and is endangering our economy. We should not rally behind Trudeau as he tries to shore up his waning popularity with phony patriotism.
