The Globe and Mail reports in its Monday, Feb. 13, edition that a key goal for Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau when he meets
United States President Donald Trump on Monday
will be to get him
to recognize that the essence of the
North American free-trade agreement
is worth salvaging.
The Globe's Barrie McKenna writes that the first two
world leaders to come calling on
Mr. Trump since his inauguration
managed to get him
to dial back previous harsh rhetoric
on issues that mattered to
them.
Now it is Mr. Trudeau's turn to
get Mr. Trump to lighten up. Mr. Trudeau
needs to shift Mr. Trump's perception
of what NAFTA is and what it
is not. The PM needs to debunk the myth that
NAFTA is a job-killing monster. Regional
economic integration remains a
bulwark against competitive challenges
from the rest of the world
and most particularly China.
There is plenty of scope for improving
the deal to account for
the evolution of trade. When the
deal was negotiated, the Internet
was in its infancy and services
were not as widely traded as they
are now. Mr. McKenna says Mr. Trudeau should work hard
to make sure the starting point
for renegotiating NAFTA is not
based on myths and alternative facts.
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