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Obama says NAFTA must be renegotiated

The UK Guardian reported yesterday that, “Potential strains in relations between the US and Canada were exposed today when Barack Obama, on his first foreign trip as president, hinted at renegotiation of the North American Free Trade agreement.”

OBAMA SEEKS INCLUSION OF LABOUR AND ENVIRONMENTAL SIDE AGREEMENTS INTO NAFTA

The Guardian reported that, “Obama told reporters at the press conference in Ottawa he wanted to begin talks on adding provisions to the agreement relating to workers and to the environment. ‘My hope is as our advisers and staffs and economic teams work this through that there’s a way of doing this that is not disruptive to the extraordinarily important trade relationship that exists between the two countries,’ he said.”

The International Herald Tribune (the New York Times) reported that, “The president stuck to his pledge eventually to seek changes in the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement to increase enforcement of labor and environmental standards. He said, however, that he intends to do so in a way ‘that is not disruptive to the extraordinarily important trade relationships that exist between the United States and Canada.'”

Earlier this week Obama stated in an interview with the CBC that, “I think there are a lot of sensitivities right now because of the huge decline in world trade. As I’ve said before, NAFTA, the basic framework of the agreement, has environmental and labour protections as side agreements. My argument has always been that we might as well incorporate them into the full agreement so that they’re fully enforceable.”

HARPER RESISTS OPENING NAFTA

The Guardian noted that, “Canada continues to champion free trade and has warned that any attempt to renegotiate part of the deal could see the whole thing unravel…Harper was equally anxious to avoid signs of a split. ‘I’m quite confident that the United States will respect those obligations and continue to be a leader on the need for globalised trade,’ he said, though he did not sound totally convinced.”

The Tribune adds, “Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, said he might be willing to negotiate, but not by ‘opening the whole NAFTA and unraveling what is a very complex agreement.'”

THE COUNCIL OF CANADIANS SEEKS THE RENEGOTIATION OF NAFTA

The Council continues to support and actively call for the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement. While concerns have been raised about the limited nature of adding the side agreements to the main text, Obama has also spoken about addressing the investor-state provisions of NAFTA. It may also be a strategic opportunity to get NAFTA reopened and to raise the issues of how the energy provisions, the inclusion of water, etc. fundamentally threaten labour and environmental protections. So we will need to continue to monitor this situation, develop our analysis, determine where our strategic openings are, and push for the renegotiation (“unraveling”) of this trade deal given the opportunity we have at this political moment.

WEB_LINKS

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/feb/19/barack-obama-stephen-harper-canada-visit.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/02/20/america/NA-US-Obama-Canada.php.

The full transcript of the Obama-Harper media conference yesterday can be read at http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/590305.