Alternative energy will kill the dependency on oil for the Americans so Harpers bargaining chip will be lost.
The global economy exercise has run its course and has failed.
There is massive unemployment in countries where manufacturing has gone to poorer countries.
Since Canada major businesses are foreign owned a lot of jobs disappeared to other countries because of tariffs don’t apply on the free trade agreements.
Before free trade agreements the system that we had worked very well and there was more work around and we had more skilled labour as well.
The tariff system protected jobs and kept everything on a level playing field.
America has finally got it when you export jobs to other countries so that products can be made more cheaply and sold back to the original countries at a lower price eventually the original country won’t be able to afford it because of massive unemployment.
Countries depend on jobs to fund pensions and lifestyles.
Free trade has created more, lower paying jobs than the higher paying jobs that were lost.
When the free trade dies and tariffs are put back that’s when job opportunities will come back to this country because people still want to buy products and services.
1. That sounds like a firewall built around the entire country.
2. A country with a small population like Canada will be deprived of many goods if you build that firewall. Why? Because there isn't enough market to justify building everything within the country. A company has to make profit or they won't continue in business. Volume is part of that profit equation, unless of course you want to have everyone paying the (higher) price for small volume production.
3. Opening up new markets with trade agreements gives Canadian companies a chance to grow their businesses, collectively produce wider varieties of products, and thus offer all customers - domestic and otherwise - a wider choice. At a lower price, when you factor in economies of scale with higher volumes produced.
4. Your statements appear to be based on the assumption that the only variable element in competitive marketing is price. That is incorrect unless you're talking about commodity items such as potatoes. Even then, they can be differentiated to some degree...organic, yellow flesh, etc.
There's more, but hopefully that's enough to get some real thinking started...