Canada must be bold and aggressive in attempts to get World Trade Organization negotiations back on track, including making all agricultural supports and protections negotiable, says an association of Canada’s big business managers.
It would mean a willingness by Canada to offer compromises on such issues as supply management protections and state trading enterprises.
“We recommend that Canada focus its attention on assuring progress in agricultural trade rules in the multilateral context and if possible, bilaterally as well,” the Canadian Council of Chief Executives said in a trade policy paper published May 5.
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“In doing so, it will be essential for Canada to take a hard look at its own policies and practices and to take action to ensure that these are compatible with its desire to benefit from liberalized trade globally, with the spirit of its international negotiating position and with its commitment to enhancing economic growth among developing countries.”
It doesn’t mean Canada should make concessions that harm its economy, the council’s senior vice-president David Stewart-Patterson said in a May 9 interview.
But it does mean Canadian negotiators should keep the bigger picture in mind and not exclude any policies from negotiation.
To date, Canada has insisted that supply management tariff protections and the state trading status of the Canadian Wheat Board are not negotiable.
Stewart-Patterson said excluding anything from negotiations does not encourage compromise from other countries.
“In the end, Canada has to decide whether potential deals are too negative for our own economic interests,” he said. “But we can’t refuse to talk about anything and we have to be willing to decide whether concessions in one area can lead to gains in another area and which is more beneficial.”
The national organization of big business managers, including such agri-food executives as Michael McCain of Maple Leaf Foods and Mayo Schmidt of Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, was clear that it supports an end to trade barriers and government support to the extent it is possible.
“We favour the immediate elimination of export subsidies and the elimination over time of import tariffs on agricultural products, tariff-rate quotas and trade-distorting domestic support,” said the business group’s paper.
