New trade deal increases American sway over Canada
The great vociferous North American trade negotiations are finally over. And while the deal could still be derailed by the coming November mid-term elections in the United States, it’s very likely that the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) will be the new framework for conducting trade on the continent.
There has been a lot of ink spilled as to whether this was a good deal. But anyone who expected Canada would somehow emerge with a better deal than what we had is unaware of reality.
Canada needed a deal much more than the Americans, given our trade dependency.
It’s good that we now have a deal with a longer-term sunset clause (potential abrogation within 16 years) and a dispute settlement mechanism.