Trade Pact to ‘Significantly Enhance’ U.S.-Canada Trade

The Trans-Pacific Partnership offers an opportunity to “significantly enhance” cross-border trade between the U.S. and Canada, Washington’s top diplomat in Ottawa said.

U.S. Ambassador to Canada Bruce Heyman [has] told a Toronto business audience the TPP agreement would allow U.S. and Canadian manufacturers to fortify their regional supply chains...

“Under TPP, goods that our companies have produced jointly—thanks to Nafta’s supply chains—will now reach an additional nine countries, with more than 300 million new consumers,” Mr. Heyman said...

“In addition, our companies will be able to draw on inputs coming from those nine countries, which will allow them to produce even more globally competitive products to sell in the region,” he added.

In 2014, two-way trade between the U.S. and Canada totaled $759 billion. Canada was also the fourth-largest source of foreign direct investment in the U.S. that year.

The Obama administration is championing the TPP agreement...

Nonetheless, the agreement is generating controversy on both sides of the border. Even some Democrats are fretting about the potential for U.S. job losses.

In Canada, the most vocal critics of the deal include the domestic auto sector. Among the chief irritants are proposals to remove tariffs on Japanese cars at a faster pace than what is planned in the U.S...

This has been excerpted from 17 November 2015 article by The Wall Street Journal.