Canada Looking to the EU

Parliament Hill, Ottawa, Canada

The following news item was of interest:

Canada, Aiming to Curb U.S. Reliance, Starts EU Talks

Bloomberg – May 6, 2009

by Theophilos Argitis

Canada, the world’s eighth-largest economy, kicked off trade talks with the European Union as it seeks to reduce dependence on a slowing U.S. economy. Prime Minister Stephen Harper met European Commission President Jose Barroso today in Prague to discuss an accord. Canada’s exports will drop 22 percent this year because of the weak global economy, the country’s export development agency predicted last month.

“This is an historic step for Canada,” Harper told reporters in Prague. “It is a glimmer of light in the darkness of this global recession.”

A trade agreement with the European Union would be the country’s largest since the North American Free Trade Agreement. Canada is suffering its deepest slump since the 1930s amid plunging demand for its goods in the U.S., which buys about 80 percent of its exports.

Canada, home to aircraft producer Bombardier Inc. and among the world’s 10 largest auto producing nations, will record a 7.3 percent drop in first-quarter output, the country’s central bank estimates.

Canadian officials, including Trade Minister Stockwell Day, also have complained about what they say is growing protectionism in the U.S.

Protectionist Risk

A U.S. decision to let states exclude Canadian companies from projects paid for by the $787 billion stimulus package risks igniting a protectionist backlash, Day told reporters last month in Washington. The U.S. also recently imposed $54.8 million in duties on softwood lumber from four Canadian provinces.

Canada and the EU, too, will need to overcome trade disputes as they start negotiations. The European Union yesterday approved a ban on imports of seal products, prompting Canada to threaten action with the WTO.

The EU is targeting products derived from seals that are killed and skinned in ways that cause pain and suffering.

Day told reporters yesterday in Prague the dispute won’t affect the trade talks with the EU.

“We’re going to pursue a broader trade agreement with the EU but there will always be individual disputes as there will be with this case with the seals,” he said.

A trade agreement could boost Canadian exports by C$12 billion ($10.2 billion) annually, Day said.

Beyond Tariffs

The scope of negotiations will reach beyond tariffs, making it a broader agreement than Nafta. Canada and the EU are seeking an “ambitious” agreement including government procurement and regulatory co-operation, according to a statement released by Harper’s office today. Canada and the EU traded C$90.4 billion worth of goods in 2008.

An agreement may open up European markets to Canadian aerospace and engineering companies such as Bombardier and SNC Lavalin Group Inc., while providing Europeans access to Canada’s energy resources, said Simon Potter, a trade lawyer at McCarthy Tetrault in Montreal.

“This is the very first trade deal we’re going to sign with a huge economy after Nafta,” Potter said in a telephone interview. “I expect energy is going to be a major part.”

Canada sits on the largest pool of oil reserves outside of the Middle East, and is a major exporter of natural gas.

“Europe strategically is looking to work its way out from the yoke of Gazprom and seeking other suppliers,” Dale Botting, an economic development official from Saskatchewan, said in a telephone interview. Canada “can try to fill the gap.” http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=aA7320P3ohA0&refer=canada

Certainly, the Europeans are looking for alternative nations to supply oil and natural resources and the Canadians always want new paying customers.

Interestingly, to me it least, was something I saw on Canadian television several years ago that indicated that in the future, Quebec would become an ally of the EU and help lead to the destruction of Canada (and possibly also the USA, if I remember that part well enough).

As I have long believed and reported, the USA and Canada will make various deals with the Europeans, but ultimately, the USA, Canada, and their Anglo-allies, will decide to cooperate more with each other than with the Europeans (Quebec, though, could be in a different category).

However, Anglo-unity is likely to be one of the factors that will lead to the destruction of the Anglo-descended peoples by the coming European Beast power. An event that may occur sometime next decade.

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