Auto industry skeptical of Canadian TPP side deal on autos with Japan
OTTAWA — Auto workers and manufacturers are rejecting assertions by Canada’s trade minister that the county won major access for them into the highly protected Japanese market in the recently rebooted Trans-Pacific Partnership.
International Trade Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne told the Senate trade committee last week that Canada won its greatest market access ever into the Japanese market when it signed on last month to the new 11-country version of the Pacific Rim pact that was salvaged after the Trump administration pulled the U.S. out last year.
Champagne said the agreement between Canada and Japan is contained in a side-letter, not in the text of the agreement, which he told senators is nonetheless “enforceable.”
That’s not possible, say representatives from the auto workers union and two trade associations representing Canadian automobile manufacturers.