Trade relations with the United States | A meeting “as soon as possible” requested by the provinces

(Ottawa) Provincial and territorial prime ministers want to quickly meet their federal counterpart Justin Trudeau to discuss the Canadian-American relationship, particularly on the trade level. The request comes as the Council of the Federation advocates for bilateral talks with the United States and Mexico.

Ontario Premier and current President of the Council of the Federation Doug Ford requested the meeting in a letter released Monday.

“As we prepare to welcome the new U.S. administration, it is important to act now and work together to seize this opportunity to strengthen the historic partnership with the United States,” it read.

The future of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) is of concern to provincial and territorial leaders. They are demanding “clarity” on how the federal government intends to go about preparing the ground for revising the trade pact.

Border security, energy, defense and the resilience of supply chains between neighbors are also on the list of issues that the 13 prime ministers of the Council of the Federation wish to address.

In the office of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, it was reported that the latter had “received the letter from Prime Minister Ford”, without however commenting directly on the request for a meeting.

“Building on the Team Canada approach, our government is committed to working collaboratively with provinces and territories to advance the shared priorities of Canada and the United States in terms of trade, investment , peace and security on the continent,” it was indicated.

CUSMA in danger?

The Council of the Federation argued last week that it would be wise to negotiate towards bilateral agreements rather than a three-country agreement. Without ruling out this possibility, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed a bias in favor of a tripartite agreement.

He and his Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, however, argued that the United States’ fears about China’s weight in trade in Mexico were not unfounded.

“I have personally heard from members of the Biden administration, people who have been strong supporters of President Trump and who are his advisors, expressing very serious concerns that Mexico is serving as a back door to China,” declared Minister Freeland last Tuesday.

“I believe these concerns are legitimate,” and Canada “shares these concerns,” she said.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he expressed these concerns to Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum during their tête-à-tête on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro on November 18.

Exclude Mexico, “ sexybut perhaps not prudent »

The leader of the Bloc Québécois, Yves-François Blanchet, does not necessarily see a break in a positive light.

“I understand the temptation of Prime Minister Trudeau and Prime Minister Ford to say: ‘Mexico is the biggest problem facing the United States; let’s give them a gift, let’s make a deal without Mexico, maybe they will find ourselves finer,” he explained last Thursday.

Because according to him, significant Canadian and Quebec investments would be “heavily penalized” by the exclusion of Mexico. And that’s without taking into account that a free trade treaty between Ottawa and Mexico would be “completely weighed down by the giant between Mexico and us.”

In short, “it’s sexybut at this stage, it is perhaps not prudent,” said the Bloc leader.

Another Cabinet Committee meeting

Donald Trump’s victory on November 5 prompted the government to resurrect a Cabinet committee on Canadian-American relations two days later. The committee, which had been dissolved since the arrival of Joe Biden at the White House, is chaired by Minister Freeland.

It met this Monday evening for a fourth time.

The prime ministers of the Council of the Federation, for their part, will meet in Toronto on December 15 and 16.