TORONTO (Reuters) —Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he is not overly worried about the future of the North American Free Trade Agreement, even though the main U.S. presidential candidates have said they want to change the deal.
Trudeau told an Oct. 7 Reuters Newsmaker event in Toronto that while he realized people around the world were genuinely angry about missing out on the benefits of free trade, turning back the clock on globalization was not the answer.
Canada is struggling to cope with a prolonged slump in crude prices, and the sluggish economy could be hit further by changes to NAFTA in the wake of the Nov. 8 presidential vote, given the country sends 75 percent of its exports to the United States.
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“I know that the rhetoric gets heated in election campaigns, but the fact is that NAFTA has been incredibly good for all three of our economies,” Trudeau said when asked whether he was concerned about the deal’s future.
“It just makes sense for us to be working together as an integrated and harmonized economy.”
He said he was “not overly worried” about the anti-NAFTA rhetoric and the accord’s future.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has variously vowed to tear up or renegotiate the 1994 deal between the United States, Canada and Mexico. Democrat Hillary Clinton has also called for changes.
Trudeau has declined to say which candidate he favours, only that he would be happy to work with whomever wins.
Canadian diplomats have been fanning out across the United States to talk up the benefits of trade with state and local leaders in the run-up to the election.
“The challenge is that during an American presidential election you always hear protectionist rhetoric and you don’t know until after the election to what extent it will actually change into policy,” said Craig Alexander, chief economist at the Conference Board of Canada think-tank.
Canada has negotiated a free trade deal with the European Union in a bid to reduce its overwhelming reliance on the United States, but protests by anti-globalization groups have delayed the signing of the agreement.
“When faced with that anger, you can either try and exploit it for short-term political gain, or we can say, ‘OK, this is a problem that we have to fix,’ “ said Trudeau.
“We just have to make sure that we’re making the right arguments for trade.”
