With TPP Trudeau unshackles Canada from the US
Canada’s place in the world
Routinely taken for granted as an ally, as a trading partner, and a neighbour, this week could prove decisive for Canada. The Montréal round of NAFTA negotiations will determine how the situation with our largest trading partner will evolve.
There is however a quasi-certainty: Canada needs and wants to reassert itself. The deal on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) announced today, without the US, but with Canada as the North American cornerstone is a rare “go-it-alone” international event.
It is quite fitting that Trudeau fils will probably take the path his father started, that of a relative unshackling of the alliance with US. Although quite strategic Canada’s potential negotiations with China for a free trade agreement is little reported in US media.
The prospect of its northern neighbour signing a long-term free trade agreement with its economic frenemy should concern US.
Could this be a decisive bargaining chip in the current NAFTA round ?
