56 LEXPERT MAGAZINE
|
JUNE 2017
| INTERNATIONAL TRADE |
Member of Parliament Ed Fast, a for-
mer minister of international trade in the
Harper government, believes the notion of
Canada as an "honest broker" among world
powers does not imply that opportunities
will come from the government somehow
moderating relationships between other
countries. "Rather, as a preeminent advo-
cate of freer trade, we can create competi-
tive advantages to lure businesses and in-
vestment to Canada," he says.
However that may be, the socio-histor-
ical international perception about Cana-
da's role in international relations, together
with the current global view of our political
and international positioning, cannot help
but foster the "honest broker" perception
in trade circles.
Earlier this year, Canada's provincial
premiers agreed on a Canadian Free Trade
Agreement intended to nullify many of the
myriad local rules that differentiate do-
ing business in different provinces. While
some commentators have pointed to the
host of potential exemptions preserving
many of these hurdles to intra-provincial
trade and concluded that the new regime
will be only marginally better than the old
one, it's still a step forward.
"e Canadian market probably feels
more acceptable to international trade
when we tie that socio-historical perspec-
tive to what appears to be a sincere effort to
liberalize internally," says Martha Harrison
of Dentons Canada LLP. "It certainly bol-
sters the view that Canada is a nation that
is serious and transparent in how it man-
ages domestic and international trade."
e new investment hub created by the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs to increase and
encourage investment in Canada will also
ever-shiing both in words and actions.
An analysis of Canada's role on the inter-
national trade scene in the era of President
Trump has no choice but to ignore the mi-
rages of his tenure to date: that he threat-
ened to do away with the North Ameri-
can Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and
eviscerate it, then told Canada's Prime
Minister there was really nothing to worry
about because Canada was a good trade
partner whose behaviour dictated only
that NAFTA be "tweaked"; that President
Trump's statements about China stand in
dire contrast to the conciliatory welcome
he extended to Xi Jinping on the Chinese
president's visit to Washington earlier this
year, culminating in Trump's declaration
that China was not, in fact, a currency ma-
nipulator and that a new round of bilateral
trade negotiations was in the works.
help. e $200-million project creates a
concierge service for international investors
to help them navigate what will remain of
the web of rules and regulations that differ-
entiate doing business in individual prov-
inces. "e hub is designed to help foreign
investors deal with barriers that may still
exist," Harrison says. "It encourages inter-
national investors to see us not only as an
advocate for international free trade but as
a country that's putting our money where
our mouth is by liberalizing internally."
Nonetheless, given the torrents emanat-
ing from President Trump and his admin-
istration, it's difficult to make assumptions
or predictions about the impact of his re-
gime. e best and perhaps the only way to
do so at this early stage is to forget what he
says and even does from one day to the next.
President Trump has proven himself to be
PHOTO:
SHUTTERSTOCK
MICHAEL WOODS
>
WOODS, LAFORTUNE LLP
"[The Americans will] see that we're
not standing still, that we have something
else we can do other than make concessions
to them. So if we're strategic and play
our cards properly, we could even
win in those negotiations."
