(Mexico City) Canada and Mexico celebrated a major trade victory over the United States on Wednesday as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau concluded a trilateral summit aimed at charting a course for North American excellence.
Updated yesterday at 8:24pm.
James McCarten The Canadian Press
The panel’s decision, known for months but released after the summit ended, declared the US interpretation of the rules on foreign content for automobiles “inconsistent” with the terms of the Canada-US Agreement – Mexico (CUSMA) .
The decision ended Mr. Trudeau’s last day in the Mexican capital, which included strengthening Canada’s economic and diplomatic ties with Mexico, a relationship too often obscured by the country that divides it.
“We look forward to working with the United States — that’s what this dispute settlement process is about,” said International Trade Secretary Mary Ng, who was traveling with Mr. Trudeau
CUSMA, the successor to NAFTA, has increased the allowable “regional value share” for auto parts from a previous 62% to 75% – a rule aimed at giving the three countries a larger share of the auto sector.
“It was about being able to design and produce more auto parts in North America,” Ng said.
“This panel verdict is about… the interpretation of how it was calculated, so we’re happy with the conclusion because it’s consistent with Canada’s understanding, and we’re going to work with the Americans.”
Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers Association of Canada, hailed the decision as an endorsement of what hard-won concessions in the deal should represent.
“The decision is important to the merits of the case – that the driving rules we agreed to after three years of tough negotiations remain in place,” Mr Volpe said.
“This shows that the CUSMA dispute resolution mechanism does not bow to politics or influence. »
Even the US Chamber of Commerce welcomed the decision because it brings some certainty to the deeply integrated auto sector. However, the US Trade Representative’s office did not immediately respond to media questions on Wednesday.
Mr Trudeau, speaking ahead of the official publication of the decision, did not speak directly about it. However, he channeled the spirit of trilateral cooperation when asked about Joe Biden’s lingering protectionist streak, something that appears to be disappearing when the US president finds himself on the international stage.
“There is no contradiction between caring about the welfare of workers in their own country and working closely with friends and allies like Mexico and Canada,” Trudeau said.
“If there really was a contradiction in standing up for America first and working with your friends, the previous president could have gotten rid of NAFTA. But he did not do it. »
It was Donald Trump, of course, whose fiercely protectionist approach Mr. Trudeau never seemed to lose sight of throughout the three-day summit.
On Monday, Trudeau openly acknowledged how close the former president came to ending the free trade era in North America. And on Wednesday, he portrayed Canada as not only the architect of the deal, but its key custodian.
As the world struggles to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and its far-reaching economic aftermath, he urged potential foreign investors to take the leap of faith, much like the early NAFTA pioneers of the 1990s.
“Let’s think the way people did when they signed the original NAFTA,” he told leaders and academics earlier in the day during a speech hosted by Invest in Canada, a federal government agency that stimulates foreign direct investment .
“They could not have known of all the changes and challenges we would face. But they knew that growing our economies and deepening our relationships would give us all the stability and certainty we needed to weather any storm. »
They also knew that an integrated continental economy would bring together all possibilities, he said, “including ones they couldn’t even imagine.”
In the dark days of the Trump era, he added, it was Canada and Mexico that kept North American trade alive.
“Motivated by protectionist, isolationist and nativist policies, [l’administration Trump était] ready to jeopardize millions of jobs in each of our countries. Our historic trade deal was in jeopardy, so we resumed it,” Trudeau said.
“During the negotiations, the United States repeatedly tried to play Canada and Mexico off against each other. But Canada has always believed that our greatest strength lies in the fact that the three parties negotiated unanimously. We understand that North American free trade is good and fair integration across the continent. »
Mr. Biden walked out of the summit on Tuesday night, clearing the way for Mr. Trudeau and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to tout the merits of closer ties between their two countries.
Together they led the signing ceremony of a bilateral declaration on indigenous cooperation and spent several hours meeting face-to-face on new ways to strengthen their ties.
Their new “Canada-Mexico Plan of Action” aims to strengthen trade and investment ties, strengthen supply chains, advance gender equality and pursue a common approach to indigenous reconciliation.
“We are very close sister nations,” López Obrador said in Spanish at the beginning of the summit.
“We belong to North America, have a lot in common and, above all, a very good partnership and friendly relationship. »
Tuesday, Messrs. Trudeau and Biden ironed out two issues, including a resolution to the Nexus travel program — currently stuck in a backlog of more than 220,000 applications — and plans for a presidential visit to Canada in March.
As the United States continued to urge Canada to play a leading role in the fight against endemic gangs and lawlessness in Haiti, Mr. Trudeau managed all week to avoid firm commitments beyond expanded sanctions.