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Chrystia Freeland set for free trade talks with China
December 30, 2016 - 6:27am
Chrystia Freeland Set For Trade Talks With China
http://www.china.ca/news/politics/freeland-china-free-trade-talks-1.3906933
"International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland says she's tentatively booked to have her first face-to-face discussion with China in February as Canada explores a free-trade agreement with the country..."
Yikes!
So scary I screwed up the URL... try this:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/freeland-china-free-trade-talks-1.3906933
So...China trades with Russia: Good China! China trades with Canada: Bad China!
Not to mention that, for decades, the Canadian left has been saying that we need to look for other trading partners besides the Americans, get out from under Uncle Sam's thumb, etc.
But now that we ARE finding other sources of trade, it's suddenly a bad thing?
Free trade with China? Almost certainly a bad thing.
Trade is generally a good thing and the country we trade with makes little difference. Not so much corporate rights agreements and that means with any country.
Yes, this is not intended to be a thread about China-bashing. Trade with China is a reality. 'FREE' Trade with China will almost certainly be a disaster for ordinary Canadians and Chinese.
Almost certainly.
You got that right.
Holy fuck. Is there actually something we all agree on?
What is this mysterious "left" you are hypothesizing?
My "left" - the workers' movement - has been staunchly opposing trade deals with Europe, China, the U.S., the Pacific Rim countries, anywhere, which benefit capital and disadvantage workers and limit Canadian sovereignty.
But very interesting that you and bekayne would frame this in terms of "for or against Russia". I'm going back to watching Trumbo, to try to understand this phenomenon.
This just popped up on my facebook feed this morning:
Unlike the people portrayed in that movie, I am not for or against any country. I'm just saying there seems to be a contradiction between saying you want more trade with countries other than the US, but then complaining every time Canada seeks a trade agreement with a country other than the US.
I take the point about a "free" trade deal being different than a regular trade deal, although the CBC article didn't mention any specifics as to what this proposed deal would entail. Is "free trade" a specific enough term that we know exactly in what way this deal will impact Canada?
This article from a couple of years ago may be helpful:
Canada Ratifies Investment Deal With China Despite Misgivings
http://ctvnews.ca/business/canada-ratifies-investment-deal-with-china-de...
One may safely assume an FTA with China would integrate, deepen and extend these FIPA features.
You don't need a free trade deal to have trade. We had trade with the US before NAFTA. Because of geography we will always have the US as our largest trading partner.
Now if the concern is labour standards and rights then the governments involved should fire all the corporate lawyers and ignore the lobbyists and bring together labour lawyers and indigenous rights lawyers and human rights lawyers and draft trade agreements that give people the right to rip back the corporate veil and go after the oligarchies amassed wealth if they cause environmental damage.
Free trade is not about trade and it is not the vehicle to discuss labour rights.
Canada-China FTA Talks Could Have Massive Implications For Water Use - by Brent Patterson
http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/brent-patterson/2017/01/canada-china-fta...
"A free trade agreement with China would likely include an 'investment protection' provision that would make it that much harder to subsequently constrain the growth of the tar sands or to reject new pipelines.
The Globe and Mail has noted, 'China wishes to forge a historic free-trade deal with Canada, but a senior Chinese official said this will require Canadian concessions on investment restrictions [notably in the oil and gas sector] and a commitment to build an energy pipeline to the coast.'
Canada could also be promoted as a country ready for China's water-intensive industries..."
"Free trade is not about trade and it is not the vehicle to discuss labour rights."
Yes, absolutely, and its not about freedom either.
We already have temporary foreign workers in BC from China, without any sort of "free trade" with China. The bad outcomes from free trade deals can happen without a free trade agreement, but with an agreement they get accelerated.
I liked the Fair trade vs Free Trade language the left used in the 80's onwards, but I don't see it as much now.
Any such Free Trade negotiations with China will be conducted with sensitivity to relevent and overarching US policy priorities. I have no doubt Freeland is up to that task given her demonstrated fealty to Atlanticist elite management agendas etc.
Trump Appoints 'Death By China' Author Peter Navarro To Head Trade Office, Hints at Trade War With Beijing
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-12-21/trump-appoints-death-china-auth...
"The author of books such as 'Death by China' and 'Crouching Tiger: What China's Militarism Means for the World' has for years warned that the US is engaged in an economic war with China and should adopt a more aggressive stance..."