One proposal for renegotiating NAFTA would be to replace it with two separate unrelated trade agreements.
The first would be what we might call a Cooperative North American Free-Trade Treaty (CONAFT). It would grant all sole proprietorships, worker cooperatives, and consumer-cooperative natural monopolies free access to the North American market. This would include the freedom to import and export tariff-free and free from agricultural supply-management marketing boards, Canadian-content media laws, etc. It would also grant all North Americans free movement across North America but only to work as sole proprietorships or as members of a worker cooperative or a consumer-cooperative natural monopoly. To satisfy ethnic nationalists, we could even require workers from member-states to acquire an English-Language Passport (ELP) to work in the US and English Canada, a French-Language Passport to work in French Canada, and a Spanish-Language Passport to work in Mexico, for which applicants would need to pass a language test.
Since we would be dealing here with sole proprietorships, worker cooperatives, and consumer cooperatives, any accusation that big bad businesses are exploiting these workers would become ridiculous since the worker (or workers) would administer his (or their) own work.
Then, separately, we negotiate a Universal North American Free-Trade Agreement (UNAFTA) that would be as open as the participating member-states are prepared to accept. When a more pro-freedom party is in power, it would negotiate more open trade. When a more protectionist party is in power, it would negotiate more closed trade. But since all but the most nationalist and xenophobic arguments would be rendered illegitimate in the CONAFT since no one could seriously argue that the workers are somehow exploiting themselves without inviting ridicule, this means that while the UNAFTA might undergo renegotiations during protectionist periods in its history, the CONAFT would tend to remain relatively unscathed even during these periods.
A similar strategy could be applied as a way to overcome obstacles to CANZUK too. The cooperative free trade agreement would serve as a minimum base line while the universal agreement could add on to it according to the times.
The first would be what we might call a Cooperative North American Free-Trade Treaty (CONAFT). It would grant all sole proprietorships, worker cooperatives, and consumer-cooperative natural monopolies free access to the North American market. This would include the freedom to import and export tariff-free and free from agricultural supply-management marketing boards, Canadian-content media laws, etc. It would also grant all North Americans free movement across North America but only to work as sole proprietorships or as members of a worker cooperative or a consumer-cooperative natural monopoly. To satisfy ethnic nationalists, we could even require workers from member-states to acquire an English-Language Passport (ELP) to work in the US and English Canada, a French-Language Passport to work in French Canada, and a Spanish-Language Passport to work in Mexico, for which applicants would need to pass a language test.
Since we would be dealing here with sole proprietorships, worker cooperatives, and consumer cooperatives, any accusation that big bad businesses are exploiting these workers would become ridiculous since the worker (or workers) would administer his (or their) own work.
Then, separately, we negotiate a Universal North American Free-Trade Agreement (UNAFTA) that would be as open as the participating member-states are prepared to accept. When a more pro-freedom party is in power, it would negotiate more open trade. When a more protectionist party is in power, it would negotiate more closed trade. But since all but the most nationalist and xenophobic arguments would be rendered illegitimate in the CONAFT since no one could seriously argue that the workers are somehow exploiting themselves without inviting ridicule, this means that while the UNAFTA might undergo renegotiations during protectionist periods in its history, the CONAFT would tend to remain relatively unscathed even during these periods.
A similar strategy could be applied as a way to overcome obstacles to CANZUK too. The cooperative free trade agreement would serve as a minimum base line while the universal agreement could add on to it according to the times.