Majority of U.S. firms say free trade with Canada helps their economy

[mentalfloss]

Remember when Conservatives were the champions of free trade? Wayyy back in 2015..


Majority of U.S. firms say free trade with Canada helps their economy

More than one in two American businesses say the United States is better off because of free trade with Canada, with particularly strong support in the northeastern U.S., according to a new poll.

Regionally speaking, surveyed businesses in the northeastern United States had the most positive impression of free trade with Canada, with 59 per cent saying the U.S. economy is better off because of it. Nearly 57 per cent of surveyed businesses in the southern United States had a positive impression of free trade with their northern neighbour, followed by the Western United States at 52 per cent and Midwest at 46 per cent.

The United States is expected to release its official NAFTA negotiating objectives on Monday. Canadian officials say talks could start within days, or at most weeks, of Aug. 16 – the first day that U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is legally allowed to begin NAFTA discussions.

“The key takeaway here is that American businesses see trade with Canada as an opportunity. It’s not a threat,” pollster Nik Nanos said in an interview.

“When we asked American businesses about the benefits of trade with Canada specifically, a majority see it as a net positive and that this is exceptionally so for any businesses located in the northeastern United States, which is part of the economic heart of the U.S.”

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/new...-free-trade-with-canada-poll/article35703705/

 

[Highball]

I rue the day the US is so arrogant as to ignore their northern neighbor. Both nations are Children of a Common Mother."

 

[DaSleeper]

Flossy is just trolling with Trump on his mind, Just like the twats on "The View"

 

[mentalfloss]

I hate The View.

 

[petros]

I remember Jean Cretin campaigning on killing NAFTA and he ate the GST.

 

[mentalfloss]

Thanks Mulroney.

 

[captain morgan]

Thanks Mulroney.

Didn't Chretin get elected on the promise of eliminating the GST.... Red Book an all

 

[TenPenny]

Thanks Mulroney.

For bringing in the FTA and the GST, which has helped our economy tremendously? I agree, he doesn't get enough thanks for the good things he did.

 

[petros]

Didn't Chretin get elected on the promise of eliminating the GST.... Red Book an all

Yup. He said "We ate the GST and will kill it" along with NAFTA.

Sept. 23, 1989: The GST is "an attack on the weaker regions of the country, regressive, against the lower income groups, invisible, sneaky and of course ... an administrative nightmare." - Liberal Leader John Turner

Nov. 28, 1989: "Mr. Speaker, the goods and services tax is a stupid, inept and incompetent tax." - Liberal MP Paul Martin


April 4, 1990: "I would abolish the GST.'' - Liberal MP Paul Martin

Sept. 27, 1990: "I want this tax dead.'' - Liberal Leader Jean Chretien

Oct. 29, 1990: "I am opposed to the GST. I have always been opposed to it, and I will always be opposed to it. It is a tax that is both regressive and discriminatory." - Liberal Leader Jean Chretien

Nov. 19, 1990: "We will continue to oppose the GST and the tax won't be long in place when the Liberals win the next election." - Opposition Leader Herb Gray

Feb. 11, 1993: "I say we will replace the tax. This is a commitment. You will judge me by that. If the GST is not gone, I will have a tough time the election after that." - Liberal Leader Jean Chretien

1993 - Liberal Party Red Book: "A Liberal government will replace the GST with a system that generates equivalent revenues, is fairer to consumers and to small business, minimizes disruption to small business, and promotes federal-provincial fiscal co-operation and harmonization."

May 2, 1994: "We hate it and we will kill it." - Prime Minister Jean Chretien

Aug. 11, 1995 - The Canadian Press: "On Wednesday, [Prime Minister Jean]Chretien said the replacement for the GST will be announced in the federal budget, though he didn't provide details."

Nov. 1, 2007 - The Canadian Press: "[Liberal Leader]Stephane Dion's suggestion that he might one day increase the goods-and-services tax had some of his Liberal troops shaking their heads Wednesday."

Dec. 18, 2008: "So I'm not going to take a GST hike off the table later. I just think it'd be a bad idea now in a recession." - Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff

Jan. 29, 2010 - Liberal MP calls for debate on increasing GST

 

[mentalfloss]

For bringing in the FTA and the GST, which has helped our economy tremendously? I agree, he doesn't get enough thanks for the good things he did.

Well he was a closet Liberal.

 

[Jinentonix]

For bringing in the FTA and the GST, which has helped our economy tremendously? I agree, he doesn't get enough thanks for the good things he did.

The FTA was a job killer. Cities like Windsor were devastated by the FTA and NAFTA basically helped finish them off. Losing all those thousands of good living wage jobs did not help the economy. In fact I remember Mulroney claiming that for every job lost to free-trade, three jobs would be created.
Problem is, Mulroney also wanted Canada to become a service sector economy and most of those service sector jobs are minimum rage and lots of them are part-time. But let's go with the 1:3 ratio. The average CAW wage at that time was around $20/hr, not including benefits. So, even if you create three minimum wage jobs you still haven't replaced the lost spending power from that one $20/hr job. And let's say the average was $18/hr. Those three people making the $6 an hour minimum wage, combined still don't have the spending power of one person making $18/hr.

As for the GST helping the economy, I'm confused as to how paying more in sales taxes so I have less to spend on consumer goods helps the economy.

 

[mentalfloss]

NAFTA didn't account for wage disparity and Mexico got away with paying people garbage for manufacturing work.

Automation is going to finish that off anyway as we transition into a knowledge based economy.

 

[petros]

Will there still be snowmobiling in the knowledge based economy and will snowmobiles still be manufactured in a Mexican desert?

 

[TenPenny]

The FTA was a job killer. Cities like Windsor were devastated by the FTA and NAFTA basically helped finish them off.

"
FCA Canada’s Windsor Assembly Plant has grown into Canada’s single-biggest manufacturing facility by employment, and Windsor-Essex has morphed into the country’s automotive “epicentre,” according to a new report.
With a workforce of 6,000 building Dodge Grand Caravans and Chrysler Pacificas, the Windsor plant last year catapulted ahead of Suncor and Syncrude in Fort McMurray, as well as ArcelorMittal Dofasco in Hamilton and the Ford Oakville and Toyota Cambridge auto assembly plants, according to the Automotive Policy Research Centre.
The study concludes that the Canadian auto industry enjoyed “steady growth and stability” in employment and vehicle production during the five-year period between 2012 and 2016.
But in Windsor and Essex County, employment in the automotive industry grew by a whopping 30 per cent between 2012 and 2016, according to APRC project manager Brendan Sweeney, who is also the author of the report.
In the most detailed and up-to-date study of its kind, Sweeney also discovered there are a lot more workers employed in the Canadian automotive sector (140,404 in 2016) than what’s reported by Statistics Canada (125,395 in 2016)."

NAFTA didn't account for wage disparity and Mexico got away with paying people garbage for manufacturing work.

That's fair, because much of the work coming out of Mexico is garbage anyway.

 

[petros]

FCA is having money problems and expensive recalls that have killed.

I heard they asked GM for help.

 

[Curious Cdn]

I rue the day the US is so arrogant as to ignore their northern neighbor. Both nations are Children of a Common Mother."

George III?

 

[White_Unifier]

NAFTA didn't account for wage disparity and Mexico got away with paying people garbage for manufacturing work.

Automation is going to finish that off anyway as we transition into a knowledge based economy.

It did help to redistribute wealth between the wealthier and poorer countries. While it benefited us by pushing prices down, it benefited Mexico even more by pushing their wages up.

What do you have against helping a poor country out?

Any socialist ought to be ecstatic about free trade given its potential to allow the market to redistribute wealth so efficiently, without needing a bloated bureaucracy to boot.

 

[taxslave]

The FTA was a job killer. Cities like Windsor were devastated by the FTA and NAFTA basically helped finish them off. Losing all those thousands of good living wage jobs did not help the economy. In fact I remember Mulroney claiming that for every job lost to free-trade, three jobs would be created.
Problem is, Mulroney also wanted Canada to become a service sector economy and most of those service sector jobs are minimum rage and lots of them are part-time. But let's go with the 1:3 ratio. The average CAW wage at that time was around $20/hr, not including benefits. So, even if you create three minimum wage jobs you still haven't replaced the lost spending power from that one $20/hr job. And let's say the average was $18/hr. Those three people making the $6 an hour minimum wage, combined still don't have the spending power of one person making $18/hr.

As for the GST helping the economy, I'm confused as to how paying more in sales taxes so I have less to spend on consumer goods helps the economy.

Largely because the GST replaced the Manufacturers Sales Tax which was somewhat of a book keeping nightmare.

NAFTA didn't account for wage disparity and Mexico got away with paying people garbage for manufacturing work.

Automation is going to finish that off anyway as we transition into a knowledge based economy.

SOC you have no hope of ever getting a job.

It did help to redistribute wealth between the wealthier and poorer countries. While it benefited us by pushing prices down, it benefited Mexico even more by pushing their wages up.

What do you have against helping a poor country out?

Any socialist ought to be ecstatic about free trade given its potential to allow the market to redistribute wealth so efficiently, without needing a bloated bureaucracy to boot.

Socialists depend on a bloated bureaucracy for jobs.

 

[MHz]

We already knew that, we are looking at ways to help our economy before we turn into another Venezuela because we bucked the American Industries running Canada like they own it.

 

[mentalfloss]

John Ivison: When it comes to NAFTA negotiations, we need to stand united | National Post