PUBLICATION: The Sunday Herald
DATE: 2013.02.17
SECTION: Nova Scotian
PAGE: D2
BYLINE: Thomas Walkom
Obama's speech changes Canada-EU bargaining
For Canada, the most important element of Barack
Obama's Tuesday night state of the union address was
buried deep inside the U.S. president's hour-long
speech.
It was just one line and few in the audience paid it
much heed. But Obama's announcement that
Washington is starting free trade talks with the
European Union has put new pressure on Prime
Minister Stephen Harper.
Harper, it will be remembered, has been negotiating
with the Europeans since 2009 for a Canada-EU free
trade pact.
The prime minister is an ardent free-trader and the EU
deal was supposed to be the crowning jewel in an
array of trade treaties with countries ranging from
Japan to Vietnam to Colombia.
But negotiations with the EU have gone on long past
the original 2011 deadline. Press leaks from the secret
talks indicate that the two sides are hung up on
agriculture in particular.
Ottawa wants full access to the 27-member EU for
Canadian agricultural products like pork. The EU, in
return, wants Canada to eliminate or weaken its supply
management system, which protects domestic milk,
cheese and chicken farmers.
Some provinces are also alarmed at the prospect of
Canada signing on to European drug patent rules that
would discriminate against cheaper generic
pharmaceuticals. A leaked federal report estimates the
deal would cost Canadians - and particularly provincial
drug plans - up to $2 billion a year more.
As well, according to the Council of Canadians, 46
municipalities (including Toronto) have come out
against a proposed element of the deal that would
prevent them from favouring local suppliers.
The negotiations have been tricky. A two-day session
between Trade Minister Ed Fast and his European
counterpart earlier this month in Ottawa failed to
resolve the issues.
Now that the Americans are in the game, things
promise to get even trickier.
The reason?
Europe doesn't care much about Canada. This
country's market is puny compared to that of the U.S.
Europe's real interest in negotiating a trade deal with
Ottawa was to demonstrate to the Americans that a
trans-Atlantic free trade pact was possible.
Now that the EU has successfully wooed Obama,
Canada is of less interest. In addition, EU negotiators
will be even more reluctant to make concessions to
Canada for fear of weakening their bargaining hand
with the Americans.
As for Canada, Harper's aggressive trade strategy has
been aimed at getting into foreign markets before the
U.S. to give Canadian exporters an edge.
With Obama's announcement Tuesday, that window
has begun to close.
In short, Canada is under more pressure to make a
deal while Europe is under less - which, for this
country, is not a good position to be in.
Ignored in all this talk of strategy is the question of
whether a Canada-EU deal is a good idea. Many say it
is not, arguing that Ontario would lose manufacturing
jobs, that drug costs would rise and that the promised
benefits from any deal are highly exaggerated. Still,
this is a deal that, in some form, seems bound to go
through. Harper's Conservatives want it and they
control the government.
New Democratic Party Leader Tom Mulcair has given
his support to the idea, telling a Montreal audience last
week that "a trade pact with Europe is exactly what we
want."
While the cagey opposition leader has left himself
room to denounce any specific deal, the fact that he
has embraced Canada-EU free trade in principle
effectively puts the NDP onside.
And the Liberals? They've been in favour of free trade
since 1993. A Canada-EU deal seems inevitable. But
now, with America in the mix, the terms for Canada
may be even less favourable than expected.
Thomas Walkom is a national affairs columnist for the
Toronto Star.
DATE: 2013.02.17
SECTION: Nova Scotian
PAGE: D2
BYLINE: Thomas Walkom
Obama's speech changes Canada-EU bargaining
For Canada, the most important element of Barack
Obama's Tuesday night state of the union address was
buried deep inside the U.S. president's hour-long
speech.
It was just one line and few in the audience paid it
much heed. But Obama's announcement that
Washington is starting free trade talks with the
European Union has put new pressure on Prime
Minister Stephen Harper.
Harper, it will be remembered, has been negotiating
with the Europeans since 2009 for a Canada-EU free
trade pact.
The prime minister is an ardent free-trader and the EU
deal was supposed to be the crowning jewel in an
array of trade treaties with countries ranging from
Japan to Vietnam to Colombia.
But negotiations with the EU have gone on long past
the original 2011 deadline. Press leaks from the secret
talks indicate that the two sides are hung up on
agriculture in particular.
Ottawa wants full access to the 27-member EU for
Canadian agricultural products like pork. The EU, in
return, wants Canada to eliminate or weaken its supply
management system, which protects domestic milk,
cheese and chicken farmers.
Some provinces are also alarmed at the prospect of
Canada signing on to European drug patent rules that
would discriminate against cheaper generic
pharmaceuticals. A leaked federal report estimates the
deal would cost Canadians - and particularly provincial
drug plans - up to $2 billion a year more.
As well, according to the Council of Canadians, 46
municipalities (including Toronto) have come out
against a proposed element of the deal that would
prevent them from favouring local suppliers.
The negotiations have been tricky. A two-day session
between Trade Minister Ed Fast and his European
counterpart earlier this month in Ottawa failed to
resolve the issues.
Now that the Americans are in the game, things
promise to get even trickier.
The reason?
Europe doesn't care much about Canada. This
country's market is puny compared to that of the U.S.
Europe's real interest in negotiating a trade deal with
Ottawa was to demonstrate to the Americans that a
trans-Atlantic free trade pact was possible.
Now that the EU has successfully wooed Obama,
Canada is of less interest. In addition, EU negotiators
will be even more reluctant to make concessions to
Canada for fear of weakening their bargaining hand
with the Americans.
As for Canada, Harper's aggressive trade strategy has
been aimed at getting into foreign markets before the
U.S. to give Canadian exporters an edge.
With Obama's announcement Tuesday, that window
has begun to close.
In short, Canada is under more pressure to make a
deal while Europe is under less - which, for this
country, is not a good position to be in.
Ignored in all this talk of strategy is the question of
whether a Canada-EU deal is a good idea. Many say it
is not, arguing that Ontario would lose manufacturing
jobs, that drug costs would rise and that the promised
benefits from any deal are highly exaggerated. Still,
this is a deal that, in some form, seems bound to go
through. Harper's Conservatives want it and they
control the government.
New Democratic Party Leader Tom Mulcair has given
his support to the idea, telling a Montreal audience last
week that "a trade pact with Europe is exactly what we
want."
While the cagey opposition leader has left himself
room to denounce any specific deal, the fact that he
has embraced Canada-EU free trade in principle
effectively puts the NDP onside.
And the Liberals? They've been in favour of free trade
since 1993. A Canada-EU deal seems inevitable. But
now, with America in the mix, the terms for Canada
may be even less favourable than expected.
Thomas Walkom is a national affairs columnist for the
Toronto Star.
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