By Canadian Press

Business group urges Ottawa to start charm offensive on trade ahead of U.S. election

Jan 2, 2024 | 12:33 PM

OTTAWA — The Canadian Chamber of Commerce is calling on Ottawa to conduct another NAFTA-style charm offensive to defend Canada’s trade interests in the U.S. ahead of November’s presidential election.

The group represents businesses of various sizes across Canada, and says now is the time for a co-ordinated outreach campaign by the federal, provincial and municipal governments to protect cross-border trade.

That campaign would involve private businesses and aim to convince Americans that Canada is a boon to the U.S. economy, ahead of the scheduled review of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement in 2026.

The chamber says that Washington has been treating its relationship with Canada as transactional, and it argues the looming election will only encourage politicians to propose more protectionist policies that would sideline Canada.

When former president Donald Trump threatened to end the NAFTA agreement that had governed U.S. trade with Canada and Mexico since 1994, Ottawa launched a widescale effort to convince Americans they benefit from free trade, resulting in an agreement on the new deal in 2018.

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President Joe Biden has launched his own policies that privilege American companies over foreign businesses, though his administration tweaked some of these measures when Canada warned of harm to trade flows. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 2, 2024.

The Canadian Press