Analysts have been speculating that Canada’s cost of entry into Pacific Rim trade talks could be a promise to compromise supply management protections.
However, a Quebec trade expert says Canada’s vulnerability really depends on how much Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiators want Japan included in the talks.
The Pacific powerhouse also wants into the TPP talks, and it has extensive agricultural protectionist policies.
If existing TPP negotiators allow Japan to join without pre-conditions or with minimal demands on agriculture policies, it will give Canada the chance to demand the same treatment, Bruno Larue told the Senate agriculture committee recently.
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“If major concessions are made for Japan to enter the talks, then it will certainly be easier for Canada to also enter the talks, probably without having to make concessions on supply management.”
Larue said Canadian negotiators have been successful in the past in fending off demands for concessions on supply management, which institutes a system of domestic quotas and high tariffs to control prices and supply.
When trade talks began with the European Union, “they were also talking about us getting rid of supply management. From what I hear, it is not such a big thing any longer for them.”
