NAFTA: the Americans are demanding the end of supply management

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Maxime Huard

Monday, 16 October 2017 16:00

UPDATE
Monday, 16 October, 2017 18:40

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OTTAWA | u.s. officials called Monday for the abolition of the system of supply management on the table in the negotiations of the free trade Agreement north american (NAFTA).

The United States claim that Canada abandoned within 10 years, all of its protections to producers of milk, eggs and poultry, have informed the sources close to the negotiations.

The canadian representatives were opposed to this requirement a no-go and left the discussions.

“We have a great system in place and our government will fight to keep it,” said minister of Agriculture, Lawrence MacCaulay. We will not accept any proposal that does not go in this direction.”

“Simply unacceptable”

“What was proposed in the U.s. is simply unacceptable, not just for producers but for all Canadians,” protested the general president of the Union des producteurs agricoles du Québec, Marcel Groleau, in a telephone interview.

“You can’t sit on these requests and say that it is a starting point to negotiate. The United States is not offering anything in return,” said Groleau, who considers, however, that these claims are not surprising. Like many observers, he believes that the Americans are trying to move discussions in a cul-de-sac to be removed more easily from the Agreement.

According to him, if Canada yielded to such demands, this would result in the closure of thousands of farms and factories, in addition to lead to the collapse of a whole chain of distribution.

Difficult negotiations

The fourth round of negotiations for the redesign of the NAFTA is currently taking place in Virginia and ends on Tuesday.

The United States had already presented last Friday to requests very important information regarding the automotive industry.

They have asked that any cars traded in the framework of the NAFTA are to be made 50 per cent from american coin, and that 85 % of the content of vehicles in north american.

In the framework of the visit to Washington of the prime minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, the us president, Donald Trump had also reiterated last week its threats to tear up NAFTA. He also spoke about the possibility of signing an agreement of two countries, a possibility that Mr. Trudeau has not excluded.