This paper will address the question what strategic goals stood behind the promotion and implementation of free trade between the United States and Canada. The purpose is to evaluate the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (CUFTA) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in respect to the objectives of both parties that were not commonly shared in the beginning. It is about the consequences of power imbalance for regional free trade and not about the social costs that are intensively discussed and certainly heavily felt in both countries. Since the view of a power asymmetry that exists between the two countries should be rather uncontested, the central idea of the following text is to examine in detail at which points this has shaped the content of the two agreements. This approach is inspired by the broader question, whose interests free trade serves in general. An important rhetoric strategy of promoters of the neo-liberal agenda is to suggest that the free play of market forces encouraged by such agreements gives all participants the same fair opportunities to engage in trade without intervention from governments. Consequently, all members of the distinct community will benefit from freer trade. For it is rather clear that power and national interests always play a role in politics – in this case in the processes leading to free trade agreements – it shall be demonstrated how this works in particular.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. The U.S.: Objectives for Engaging in Regional Free Trade
2.1 Strategic Interests versus Canada
2.2 Precedents for GATT and WTO
3. Canada: Objectives for Engaging in Regional Free Trade
3.1 An Approach to Secure Market Access
3.2 General Dispute Settlement
4. Power Asymmetry with Consequences?
5. Conclusion
Research Objectives and Themes
This paper evaluates the strategic objectives and political consequences of the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (CUFTA) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), specifically examining how the existing power asymmetry between the two nations shaped the agreements' content and implementation.
- Analysis of U.S. and Canadian strategic trade objectives.
- Examination of the power imbalance in North American trade relations.
- Assessment of dispute settlement mechanisms under CUFTA and NAFTA.
- Impact of neo-liberal trade agendas on national policy autonomy.
- The role of energy and intellectual property rights in bilateral agreements.
Excerpt from the Book
2.1 Strategic Interests versus Canada
In contrast to the Canadian constitution, which had been amended in 1982 by a Charter of Rights and Freedoms that deliberately excluded property rights, CUFTA provided in Article 1605 mutual protection for the property of corporations. NAFTA later contained an identical provision. This had obviously not been intended by the Canadian negotiators: “(…) this provision created a property right for foreign corporations that neither the government nor the public had at first understood.” Many of the TNCs (transnational corporations) operating in Canada are U.S.-owned; therefore this article indirectly affects the power asymmetry in a negative way for Canada.
Intellectual property rights were one issue Canada did not want to be incorporated into CUFTA. The Mulroney administration, highly concentrated on the idea of a free trade deal with the U.S., however, had no real choice in regard to a change of the legal situation on intellectual property. If such a change should not be part of the agreement, they were in need for an alternative solution because U.S. pressure to alternate the status quo was strong.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: Outlines the core research question regarding strategic goals behind North American free trade and sets the focus on the political consequences of power asymmetry.
2. The U.S.: Objectives for Engaging in Regional Free Trade: Details the expansionist and offensive trade agenda of the United States, focusing on market access and international precedents.
2.1 Strategic Interests versus Canada: Discusses the implementation of corporate property rights and intellectual property standards as tools to assert U.S. interests.
2.2 Precedents for GATT and WTO: Examines how bilateral agreements were used as laboratories to push U.S. trade agendas into international legal frameworks.
3. Canada: Objectives for Engaging in Regional Free Trade: Summarizes Canada’s pursuit of secure market access and attempts to mitigate U.S. trade-remedy measures.
3.1 An Approach to Secure Market Access: Evaluates the effectiveness of Chapter 19 and the binational panel system in addressing unfair trade-remedy law applications.
3.2 General Dispute Settlement: Analyzes the functionality and limitations of dispute resolution mechanisms under Chapter 18 and Chapter 20.
4. Power Asymmetry with Consequences?: Synthesizes how the structural power imbalance influenced the negotiation outcomes and constrained Canadian autonomy.
5. Conclusion: Summarizes the failure of Canada to achieve its primary strategic goals and the relative success of U.S. interests in securing resource and investment dominance.
Keywords
Free Trade Agreement, CUFTA, NAFTA, Power Asymmetry, Canada-U.S. Relations, Market Access, Dispute Settlement, Trade-Remedy Measures, Intellectual Property, Energy Sector, National Treatment, Neo-liberalism, Trade Policy, Sovereignty, Hegemony
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the fundamental topic of this research paper?
The paper examines the strategic goals behind the promotion of free trade between the U.S. and Canada and how the inherent power imbalance between these two nations influenced the final agreements.
What are the central themes discussed in the work?
Key themes include the impact of power asymmetry on trade negotiations, the role of corporate property rights, the influence of neo-liberal agendas, and the effectiveness of trade dispute resolution mechanisms.
What is the primary objective or research question of the study?
The study aims to evaluate whether Canada successfully reached its strategic objectives in CUFTA and NAFTA and how the power differential shaped the legal and political outcomes of these agreements.
Which scientific methodology is applied?
The author uses a diplomatic and historical research approach, focusing on the results of the trade negotiations and how they reflect the imbalanced power relationship between the two states.
What does the main body of the text cover?
It covers U.S. expansionist trade goals, the Canadian drive for secure market access, the specific implementation of property and intellectual property rights, and a critical look at the dispute resolution records.
Which keywords characterize this paper?
The paper is characterized by terms such as power asymmetry, trade-remedy measures, national treatment, sovereignty, hegemony, and the specific free trade agreements CUFTA and NAFTA.
How does the author evaluate the success of the Canadian negotiation strategy?
The author concludes that Canada failed to achieve its primary goal of securing an exemption from U.S. trade-remedy laws and was largely subjected to the U.S.-led agenda.
What role does the energy sector play in this analysis?
The energy sector serves as a primary example of how the U.S. ensured unrestricted access to natural resources, effectively locking Canada into a structure that prevents nationalist, interventionist energy policies.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Magister Artium Timo Metzner (Autor:in), 2004, Free Trade and the Power Asymmetry between the United States and Canada, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/162583
