Canada in talks to enter Trans-Pacific Partnership

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – It could well be the largest free-trade deal Canada ever signs, but there is still a lot we don’t know, or aren’t being told, about our country’s push to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

At this week’s G-20 summit, Canada was invited to join TPP trade talks, which include countries like Vietnam, Malaysia, Peru, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Chile, Brunei, and the United States. Entering the partnership gives us a seat at an important trade table, opening us up to more goods from nine nations in Asia, South America, and North America.

The member countries deal with a total gross domestic product of more than $17.5 trillion.

“It’s not like we’re not trading with them currently; we are trading with them, and so we are taking advantage of their growth,” says Keith Head, an economist with UBC’s Sauder School of Business.

“This free trade agreement would help that on the margins,” he argues, adding this will mean we could see more imports from emerging economic powers like Vietnam.

“[It’s] a pretty big country, low-wage producer, et cetera. Giving them preferential tariff access that isn’t given to the Chinese would be a fairly big deal for the Vietnamese,” notes Head.

But some wonder if Canada is paying too high a price to join this particular club.

“The numbers don’t lie,” says NDP Trade Critic Don Davies. “While the Conservatives go around trumping rhetoric about being pro-trade, they’re signing bad trade agreements that are hurting our economy.”

He adds he’s seen documents that suggest we’ve given up many bargaining powers to ensure our membership. This has not been independently confirmed.

“Any of the decisions made by the original nine members to date can’t be touched, and anything that the original nine partners agree to in the future, Canada must go along with,” says Davies.

Part of the reason Ottawa was late to this party was because other nations bristled at our restrictions on dairy and poultry products. Others fear the deal will mean lifting those barriers, raising possible safety issues from items like imported milk.

Some worry inclusion in free trade talks will mean job losses

Labour leaders think a new deal could see Canadian work shipped across the ocean.  

BC Federation of Labour President Jim Sinclair says free trade doesn’t work when it’s with countries where workers don’t earn a fair wage.
    
“It’s ridiculous for us to enter agreements with countries that pay their workers $3 an hour, $2 an hour, and $4 a day,” argues Sinclair, who calls the free trade plan ‘insanity.’ “It’s good for corporations because they just pick up the factory and move it, but it’s bad for Canadians.”

Sinclair believes our trade deals should set minimum labour and environmental standards agreed to by all partners.

“Why don’t we negotiate a trade deal that says if you’re going to abuse your environment, and the planet then guess what, we’re not going to have trade with you?” he suggests.

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