Donald Trump does Canada a favour by axing Trans-Pacific Partnership
Donald Trump’s decision to effectively kill the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade and investment pact is, on balance, good news for Canada.
The U.S. president-elect did the deed Tuesday when he confirmed, via YouTube video, that one of his first actions on taking office in January will be to begin the process of withdrawing from the deal.
The 12-country TPP is structured in such a way that an American withdrawal, unless reversed by 2018, automatically voids it.
Theoretically, the other parties to the arrangement — Canada, Japan, Mexico, Vietnam, Malaysia, Chile, Peru, Brunei, New Zealand, Singapore and Australia — could override that provision and go ahead minus the U.S. But Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe scotched that idea Tuesday, noting that the pact, as written, would be meaningless without American participation.
Trump’s announcement that he will honour his campaign pledge and axe the TPP is bound to be described as another victory for the dark forces of isolation. In fact, the TPP was never a very good deal for Canada.
A study done for the federal Global Affairs department estimates that, at best, the TPP would have boosted the Canadian economy by slightly more than a tenth of a percentage point — thanks in large part to increased exports to Japan.
But there would have been serious casualties along the way. The government study estimates auto exports to the U.S. would have declined by $3.6 billion.
The deal would have also whittled away at the supply-management system that protects dairy, poultry and egg farmers. It would have increased the cost of leading-edge drugs and, according to tech entrepreneur Jim Balsillie, crippled Canadian innovation.
https://www.thestar.com/opinion/com...y-axing-trans-pacific-partnership-walkom.html
Donald Trump’s decision to effectively kill the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade and investment pact is, on balance, good news for Canada.
The U.S. president-elect did the deed Tuesday when he confirmed, via YouTube video, that one of his first actions on taking office in January will be to begin the process of withdrawing from the deal.
The 12-country TPP is structured in such a way that an American withdrawal, unless reversed by 2018, automatically voids it.
Theoretically, the other parties to the arrangement — Canada, Japan, Mexico, Vietnam, Malaysia, Chile, Peru, Brunei, New Zealand, Singapore and Australia — could override that provision and go ahead minus the U.S. But Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe scotched that idea Tuesday, noting that the pact, as written, would be meaningless without American participation.
Trump’s announcement that he will honour his campaign pledge and axe the TPP is bound to be described as another victory for the dark forces of isolation. In fact, the TPP was never a very good deal for Canada.
A study done for the federal Global Affairs department estimates that, at best, the TPP would have boosted the Canadian economy by slightly more than a tenth of a percentage point — thanks in large part to increased exports to Japan.
But there would have been serious casualties along the way. The government study estimates auto exports to the U.S. would have declined by $3.6 billion.
The deal would have also whittled away at the supply-management system that protects dairy, poultry and egg farmers. It would have increased the cost of leading-edge drugs and, according to tech entrepreneur Jim Balsillie, crippled Canadian innovation.
https://www.thestar.com/opinion/com...y-axing-trans-pacific-partnership-walkom.html