CANADIAN-U.S. TRADE

• Published in: Contemporary Policy Issues Vol. 6; no. 1; pp. 1 - 27
• Main Authors: Walker, Michael A, Grubel, Herbert G, Hughes, Ann, Nymark, Alan, Wonnacott, Paul
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Huntington Beach, Calif Western Economic Association International 1988; Western Economic Association
• Series: Contemporary Economic Policy
• Subjects: Advantages; Economic impact; Employment; Free trade; GNP; Gross National Product; International trade; Protectionism; Trade negotiation; Trade policy; Trade restrictions; US exports; US imports; Canada
• ISSN: 1074-3529; 0735-0007; 1465-7287
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1465-7287.1988.tb00275.x

From Canada's viewpoint, free trade is one of the most important issues of this decade, if not the remainder of the century. One of the greatest benefits of a free trade agreement might be that special interest group regulations and monopolies would be removed. Free trade in services between the US and Canada presents no negotiation problem fundamentally different from those for free trade in goods. Canada is seeking to reduce nontariff barriers maintained at both the provincial and federal levels. In the US, free trade negotiations with Canada are seen as an integral and important part of the administration's overall trade policy. In contrast, Canada's key goal in trade negotiations is to achieve security of its access to the US market. However, problems in the US-Canadian automotive trade still exist, and if Canada proceeds with its present policies of export promotion to the US, a showdown may occur by the early 1990s. Also, while duty-free passage between the US and Canada generally is recognized as desirable by both countries, a danger still exists that the US will exert major pressure to renegotiate the pact.