Fmr Canada PM Harper: United States Got the ‘Better’ End of the Trade Deal with Canada

Sunday on New York AM 970 radio’s “The Cats Roundtable,” former Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper discussed the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, which replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

“Canadians have been kind of bruised by this,” Harper told host John Catsimatidis. “I think Canadians were shocked. What ultimately happened in my view is Canada was swept up. I think some of it was our government’s doing, but we were swept up in what was essentially an American-Mexican dispute.”

Harper said the agreement “has some interesting provisions” and gives Canada and Mexico “real incentives to work with the United States on the imbalances we all suffer on Chinese trade.”

He added, “I think Canadians generally recognize that the United States got the better of the deal. I mean, I think what’s pretty clear is the U.S. got some things and didn’t lose anything. Canada had to give on some things and didn’t really have any wins. And I do think Canadians are fairly bruised about that because, as I say, I think the view in Canada is that we’ve been a pretty good trading partner and play by the rules.”

Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent

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