Pressure on Ottawa not to give Trump an easy win in NAFTA talks

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Formal re-negotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement begins on Wednesday and one expert says the pressure will be on Ottawa as Donald Trump needs a quick win on the international stage.

William Mitchell, a professor of Strategic Management at Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, says NAFTA is by far Canada’s most important trade deal.

He says even though US President Donald Trump’s low polling numbers may inform the tone of the talks, our team should be focused solely on Canadian priorities at talks in Washington, DC this week.

“There’s a possibility that (Trump) will see this as a possible win, in which case he will put more pressure on negotiators. Negotiators on the Canadian side obviously need to be fully engaged, actively, thoughtful about what they’re trying to accomplish.”

Mitchell says the pressure will be on Ottawa, especially if Trump wants to use the talks to shore up popularity among his base of supporters.

“There was one voice, one Canadian voice coming out of Washington, DC, a few weeks ago saying that Canada should give President Trump a win. In my view, that would be a huge mistake.”

Mitchell says our negotiators are there to score victories for Canada, and in the best case scenario, any agreement would be a win-win for all concerned.

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