Justin Trudeau: New Trade Deal Must Protect Canadian Cultural Sovereignty and Identity

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau insisted he will not agree to any new trade pact with the United States that doesn’t protect Canadian sovereignty and identity.

The existing North American Free Trade Agreement between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada includes a cultural exemption clause, which gives the NAFTA countries special rights to put in place protecting cultural goods and services.

Canadian officials have lately adopted an adamantly nationalist stance in trade negotiations, with Canada’s foreign minister Chrystia Freeland pointing out that she is “paid in Canadian dollars.”

“We are always going to stand up for the national interest and Canadian values,” Freeland said Friday.

This is Canada First stance very different from the early pleas for an international rules-based trading system that Canada’s leaders formerly insisted was their goal. They appear to be mirroring the rhetoric of the Trump administration, which insists that it is pursuing a better deal for U.S. citizens.

The U.S., however, is in a part stronger position to stick to its economic nationalist approach in the negotiations over a NAFTA replacement.  A complete revocation of NAFTA would cause a 2.2 percent decline in Canada’s GDP, according to an analysis published last week by the Bank for International Settlements. The U.S. economy would suffer just a 0.22 percent decline.