{"id":79268,"date":"2017-06-18T17:09:15","date_gmt":"2017-06-18T17:09:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/?p=79268"},"modified":"2017-06-18T17:09:15","modified_gmt":"2017-06-18T17:09:15","slug":"in-current-climate-selling-trade-deals-means-selling-the-social-benefits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/political\/in-current-climate-selling-trade-deals-means-selling-the-social-benefits.html","title":{"rendered":"In current climate, selling trade deals means selling the social benefits"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>If someone took\u00a0a sip of Belgian brew <span>Hoegaarden<\/span>\u00a0every time Prime Minister Justin\u00a0<span>Trudeau<\/span>\u00a0and Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel used the word &#8220;progressive&#8221; to describe Canada&#8217;s trade deal with the European Union Friday, that glass would have been drained\u00a0by the end of their press conference.<\/p>\n<p><span>After a meeting on Parliament HIll, Trudeau<\/span>\u00a0paid tribute to the work Michel did to\u00a0pull the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">out of the fire last October<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>There will always be people who have concerns about freer trade,\u00a0<span>Trudeau<\/span>\u00a0said in French, but\u00a0<span>CETA<\/span>\u00a0is a\u00a0\u2014\u00a0wait for it\u00a0\u2014 &#8220;progressive&#8221; trade deal anchored in shared values, he said. Ratifying it in the face of a wave of isolationism and protectionism\u00a0was &#8220;a step forward.&#8221;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"><span>Canada-EU<\/span>\u00a0trade deal&#8217;s July 1 target threatened by new cheese dispute<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Describing what nearly sunk\u00a0<span>CETA<\/span>\u00a0last fall as &#8220;concerns&#8221; may be an understatement. Thousands of people, organized by labour unions and civil society groups amplifying a range of fears about trade liberalization with North America, had hit the streets of Europe.<\/p>\n<p>Socialists and other left-leaning political parties across Europe were under pressure to stop the deal. Only some <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">past-midnight\u00a0<span>dealmaking<\/span><\/a>\u00a0saw\u00a0a\u00a0<a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">postponed signing ceremony<\/a>\u00a0rescheduled, after then-trade minister <span>Chrystia<\/span> <span>Freeland<\/span> <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">felt forced to walk away<\/a> from regional demands in Belgium to rewrite a deal the EU had said was done.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"pullquote\"><p>\n <span class=\"pullquote-quotation\">&#8216;When we talk about inclusive growth, it\u00a0can&#8217;t just be a phrase that we&#8217;re throwing around. It has to be meaningful for people&#8217;<\/span><br \/>\n <cite class=\"pullquote-source\">&#8211; Labour Minister Patty\u00a0<span class=\"scayt-misspell-word\"><span class=\"scayt-misspell-word\"><span class=\"scayt-misspell-word\">Hajdu<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/cite>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The interpretative declaration that was added to quell European fears had little to do with\u00a0<span>CETA&#8217;s<\/span>\u00a0economic benefits or the typical goals of\u00a0trade deals, like cutting tariffs or opening new markets. It talked about labour rights, food safety and environmental protections\u00a0\u2014 more aligned with the role of governments to supervise business, not enable it.<\/p>\n<p>It was deemed necessary to make sure\u00a0<span>CETA<\/span>\u00a0survived its ratification vote in the European Parliament. And the persuasion isn&#8217;t over: three dozen ratification votes remain in regional and federal legislatures across Europe.<\/p>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/1.3794448.1475778644!\/cpImage\/httpImage\/image.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/original_620\/germany-ttip-protest.jpg\" alt=\"Germany TTIP Protest\" width=\"100%\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"figure-caption\">Thousands of protestors, like these ones in Berlin last September, called on European governments to stop Canada&#8217;s free trade agreement, as well as the EU&#8217;s trade talks with the U.S. (Markus Schreiber\/Associated Press)<\/p>\n<p><span>CETA<\/span>\u00a0was the\u00a0<span>Trudeau<\/span>\u00a0government&#8217;s first, but not last, lesson in how to reassure and overcome the opponents of trade policy.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It may serve it well across its entire trade agenda\u00a0\u2014 not just implementing CETA, but\u00a0negotiating more deals with the\u00a0<a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">countries that remain interested in the Trans-Pacific Partnership<\/a>\u00a0or South America&#8217;s\u00a0<a href=\"javascript:void(0)\"><span>Mercosur<\/span>\u00a0bloc<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>&#8216;Everybody has to benefit&#8217;<\/h2>\n<p>&#8220;International agreements are becoming far more inclusive of social issues and environmental issues and rights,&#8221; Labour Minister Patty\u00a0<span>Hajdu<\/span>\u00a0told CBC News from Berlin Friday. &#8220;It&#8217;s something Canada is pushing as a trend.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The minister touted\u00a0Canada&#8217;s ratification this week of the International Labour Organization&#8217;s convention on collective bargaining, the eighth and\u00a0final &#8220;fundamental&#8221; ILO convention Europeans insisted Canada ratify before <span>CETA<\/span>\u00a0takes effect.<\/p>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/1.4165220.1497647867!\/cpImage\/httpImage\/image.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/original_620\/cabinet-retreat-20170123.jpg\" alt=\"Cabinet Retreat 20170123\" width=\"100%\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"figure-caption\">Labour Minister Patty Hajdu was in Geneva Wednesday for Canada&#8217;s official ratification of the International Labour Organization&#8217;s convention on collective bargaining. (Jeff McIntosh\/Canadian Press)<\/p>\n<p>Hajdu\u00a0wouldn&#8217;t\u00a0speak to why the previous Conservative government hadn&#8217;t ratified the convention, saying\u00a0it was a surprise to her when she became labour minister that\u00a0it wasn&#8217;t done yet.<\/p>\n<p>On the same day Canada ratified that ILO convention, a\u00a0Liberal bill to restore unions&#8217; bargaining certification process and repeal financial disclosure rules brought in by the previous Conservative government passed its final vote in the Senate.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Trade deals are becoming more and more progressive, and as part of that, there has been a substantial focus on labour,&#8221; Hajdu said. Newer trade\u00a0agreements often include chapters on workers&#8217; rights, for example.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;What we&#8217;ve seen, as trade agreements have progressed and matured, there&#8217;s a recognition by countries that everybody has to benefit and there has to be some accountability around that,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;When we talk about inclusive growth, it can&#8217;t just be a phrase that we&#8217;re throwing around. It has to be meaningful for people.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Embracing union priorities helped elect\u00a0Liberals\u00a0in 2015. They&#8217;ll need to keep these votes come 2019.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think we&#8217;re coming closer to a place where we can all agree that including aspects of social growth, making sure that we have equity built in &#8230; these are all the kinds of things that yes, the labour movement has fought for, but we&#8217;re starting to see have a significant influence in the business community as well,&#8221; the minister said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2>&#8216;Feminist approach&#8217;<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this month,\u00a0<span>Trudeau<\/span>\u00a0heralded Canada&#8217;s updated free trade agreement with Chile as &#8220;a big moment&#8221; for progressive trade.<\/p>\n<p>The rewrite didn&#8217;t cut more\u00a0tariffs or open markets for new products. The news release didn&#8217;t project\u00a0a dime in additional\u00a0economic benefits.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, it spoke of\u00a0a first-of-its-kind\u00a0chapter on &#8220;trade and gender,&#8221; to &#8220;ensure economic growth benefits everyone.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Standing beside Chile&#8217;s president, Michelle\u00a0<span>Bachelet<\/span>,\u00a0<span>Trudeau<\/span>\u00a0said shared policies lead to a &#8220;fairer, more inclusive world.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/1.4165203.1497652543!\/cpImage\/httpImage\/image.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/original_620\/canada-chile-20170605.jpg\" alt=\"Canada Chile 20170605\" width=\"100%\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"figure-caption\">Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, right, met with Justin Trudeau in Ottawa on June 5. The pair announced a 20-year old bilateral trade agreement between their countries had been updated to include a chapter on &#8220;trade and gender.&#8221; (Sean Kilpatrick\/Canadian Press)<\/p>\n<p>A new &#8220;trade and gender committee&#8221; will advance women&#8217;s participation in the economy,\u00a0part of\u00a0Canada&#8217;s &#8220;feminist approach&#8221; to\u00a0foreign policy.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">Liberals launch feminist-focused foreign aid policy<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">Liberals&#8217; 1st Gender-Sensitive Budget Identifies Gaps, Funds Fixes<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The rewrite also enshrined\u00a0more corporate social responsibility standards than were common when the Chile deal\u00a0was drafted\u00a020 years ago.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">Much like the interpretative declaration\u00a0Canada agreed to graft on to\u00a0<span>CETA<\/span><\/a>, the new agreement with Chile reaffirms a government&#8217;s right to\u00a0regulate industries to enforce things like labour\u00a0or environmental standards, provided it does so transparently.<\/p>\n<h2>Politics &#8216;extremely daunting&#8217;<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This is how we advance our progressive trade agenda in the world and how we make trade real for Canadian workers and their families,&#8221; International Trade minister\u00a0<span>Fran\u00e7ois-Philippe<\/span>\u00a0Champagne said about the Chile deal update.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Making it real&#8221; may be more difficult in a <span>renegotiation<\/span>\u00a0of\u00a0the North American Free Trade Agreement later this year.<\/p>\n<p>Early signals from the Trump administration suggest\u00a0these talks will be <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">dominated by commercial agendas<\/a>. But strengthening labour, intellectual property and environmental protection measures seems likely too.<\/p>\n<p>Making sure NAFTA reflects progressive\u00a0values\u00a0might help sell its\u00a0merits to Canadian voters\u00a0cool\u00a0\u2014 if not outright hostile \u2014 to\u00a0U.S. President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<p>As former prime minister Brian\u00a0Mulroney, who oversaw the original\u00a0NAFTA\u00a0negotiation,\u00a0<a href=\"javascript:void(0)\">told an Ottawa audience Friday<\/a>: &#8220;The politics of free trade were always extremely daunting.&#8221;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n   <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Article source: http:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/politics\/trade-agreements-social-policy-1.4164319?cmp=rss<\/a>\r\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If someone took\u00a0a sip of Belgian brew Hoegaarden\u00a0every time Prime Minister Justin\u00a0Trudeau\u00a0and Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel used the word &#8220;progressive&#8221; to describe Canada&#8217;s trade deal with the European Union Friday, that glass would have been drained\u00a0by the end of their press conference. After a meeting on Parliament HIll, Trudeau\u00a0paid tribute to the work Michel [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":79272,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[84],"class_list":["post-79268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-political","tag-political"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79268"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79268\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usa.timesofnews.com\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}