(Washington) Federal Liberal government fooled by false sense of security following last year’s presidential election, believe business people urging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to step up towards President Joe Biden during his visit to the White House this week.
Canadians might have been expecting to take it easy after Donald Trump’s defeat, but experts instead estimate the events of the past ten months – starting with the cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline project on day one. Presidency Biden – suggest that the relationship between Canada and the United States has taken the field squarely.
“Collectively, we considered that this relationship was a bit on automatic pilot,” analyzes the President and CEO of the Canadian Business Council Goldy Hyder.
“We all succumbed to the mirage that ‘Life will be perfect again, everything will be back to how it was before, they love us, we love them and we are going to have a happy relationship.’ The facts show that it is rather the opposite, ”he continued.
Among these facts is a long list of pain points for Canada. List that seems to keep growing.
In addition to the Keystone XL case, the Biden administration has shown little enthusiasm for the “Line 3” and “Line 5” pipeline projects put forward by Enbridge in Calgary. These cross-border projects face strong opposition and even legal action in the United States.
In addition, President Biden continually hammers out his protectionist “Buy American” rhetoric to convince voters that his major infrastructure project will primarily benefit American suppliers and contractors with significant conditions imposed on any foreign contribution.
This vocabulary could be heard again on Monday when Joe Biden signed the law formalizing his $ 1.2 trillion infrastructure plan. Another set of directives is linked to the plan. These directives direct the government to buy local to boost the U.S. economy and its competitiveness, including implementing manufacturing requirements in the United States to boost manufacturing production and its supply chains.
On Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau acknowledged that American protectionism is one of the issues he intends to discuss, again, with President Biden.
Mr. Trudeau stressed on Monday that the Buy American principles are “a particular challenge not only for businesses, workers here in Canada, but also for those in the United States because of the integration of our supply chains,” because of the integration of our economies ”.
“It is counterproductive for the Americans to bring more barriers and limits to trade between our two countries,” he added.
This is an issue that I have highlighted many times already with President Biden and it will certainly be part of the important conversations we are going to have later this week.
The Canadian auto industry is also at war with a proposed tax credit in the United States for the purchase of an electric vehicle. The credit could be as high as US $ 12,500. What critics denounce, including the Canadian industry, is that the credit unfairly targets vehicles built in the United States by unionized workers.
Goldy Hyder also cites among the points of contention the complete lack of notice at the time of the chaotic withdrawal of American troops in Afghanistan; the agreement to supply nuclear submarines to Australia which appears to have sidelined Canada altogether; and the three-month delay in reopening the border back and forth.
None of this describes a healthy bilateral relationship between two states, notes Hyder.
“I am much more interested in the state of the relationship following an event like this than I could be about the progress made on this or that piece of legislation,” he said.
Friends are supposed to be able to talk to each other frankly, honestly. I don’t measure this relationship by their ability to appear boyfriend-girlfriend and clap each other’s hands. I want results for Canadians and for our interests. This is what I want to see.
Goldy Hyder, President and CEO of the Business Council of Canada
Democrats are facing some powerful headwinds in the United States and that is unlikely to help matters any better.
Inflation in the United States has now exceeded 6% and the price of gasoline at the pump is reaching record highs across the country, not least because of the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, but also because of the outages. in the supply chain that hit Americans just as holiday shopping begins.
Joe Biden’s appreciation rates are at an all-time low, and Republicans’ good results in the election for governor of the states of Virginia and New Jersey herald a fierce struggle in the midterm elections next year.
Given all of this, it would probably be wiser for Canadians and Mexicans to moderate their expectations from Thursday’s summit, warns Duncan Wood, vice president and senior advisor to the Wilson Center and its Mexico Institute.
The three states are still in the process of repairing the damage caused by the passage of the Trump era. For Mr. Wood, the most important objective of the meeting could precisely be to progress in this path of reconciliation.
“There is value in just having a conversation,” he says. It’s just that you shouldn’t expect much, I think, from the outcome of this short-term conversation. ”
The nature of the Canada-U.S. Relationship has long taken the form of Canada laying out its priorities to get American attention, and then trying to align those priorities with American goals so that action can be taken. , describes Maryscott Greenwood, CEO of the Canada-United States Business Council.
“In Washington, when dialogue is dominated by internal politics, Canada and Mexico are left on the sidelines. But the truth is, Canada and Mexico can help solve some of the internal political problems like infrastructure and energy cooperation, ”says Mr.me Greenwood.
“It may seem surprising to Canadians that we always have to remind ourselves of this reality, but it does have to be repeated. You have to have this conversation, ”she insists.