USMCA passed

The Vice President of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute says ratification of the USMCA should restore the confidence of investors in investing in Canada.

Following approval yesterday, by the Ways and Means Committee, the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote tomorrow to ratify the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement and, pending that approval, the Senate is expected to approve the agreement early next year.

Colin Robertson, the Vice President and a Fellow of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, says implementation of the agreement will be good for Canada.

It is significant because we had created a North American platform allowing for freer trade. Because we have energy, we’ve got a highly educated workforce and we’ve got a big market of 500 million people, when you look at North America in comparison to some of the other trading blocks, the European Union for example or what’s coming together in China and parts of Asia, we are highly competitive because we have the vital ingredients and we have the work force and we have market size. So this now gives investors both within North America and foreign investors, and investments are what creates jobs, the assurance to invest once again in North America.

I think Canada has a particularly advantageous position because we have freer trade agreements now with the European Union and with the leading countries in the Pacific, notably Japan, and that’s something the United States doesn’t have. So, from an investment perspective, this was quite important. Certainly over the last two years there had been a real fall off in investments both by Canadians in Canada and by foreign investors in Canada.

~ Colin Robertson, Canadian Global Affairs Institute

Robertson says this should give those who were concerned about Canada’s continued access to the biggest market in the world, the United States, that investing in Canada is something they can do with some assurance that their products can be sold under freer trade conditions into the U.S.