Canadians were never really sold on NAFTA in the first place.
The pact was commonly referred to as Not Another Free Trade Deal (and that’s the polite version) shortly before it was implemented in the early 1990s.
There are plenty who would have wished it had never been put in place.
They may get their wish, thanks to Donald Trump, and his angry negotiators.
As of this week, NAFTA is not dead, but it is in peril. A quarter century ago, that would not have been a terrifying prospect. Now, it should be.
Trump and his supporters were openly scornful of NAFTA during the campaign, and have come to the negotiating table with the fixed idea that trade has winners and losers. And since they want to be the winners, Canada and Mexico must now become losers.
Are some American complaints correct? Could there be some room to move on softwood lumber, supply management, the auto deal, digital trade, and telecommunications across the borders?
Maybe.
But both Canadian and Mexican negotiators are becoming frustrated, and it seems that the entire deal may be scuttled.
Foreign affairs minister Chrystia Freeland said Canada must be prepared for “the worst possible outcome.”
Whether or not NAFTA was the best deal possible a quarter century ago, scrapping it altogether would be a small catastrophe. It would disrupt many companies directly, and their suppliers indirectly.
NAFTA was never popular, but tearing it out by its roots is a terrifying prospect, one that may come to pass soon.
– M.C.