Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada will move next week to formally approve North America’s new, long-delayed free trade pact.
This story by the Canadian Press appeared in Automotive News Canada.
Trudeau said the government will introduce a ways and means motion Jan. 27 when Parliament resumes, and will table legislation to ratify the deal two days later.
Trudeau said millions of Canadians depend on stable, reliable trade with their largest trading partners.
That will effectively remove the final legal hurdle in preserving continent-wide trade after President Donald Trump foisted the acrimonious renegotiation of the 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement on Canada and Mexico in 2017.
Last week, the Republican-led U.S. Senate passed its so-called implementation bill of the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
The Liberal government had been waiting for the U.S. to formally ratify the pact before introducing its own bill, after Mexico ratified the deal back in June.
Ratifying the new North American Free trade deal is a top priority for the Trudeau government.
The deal will require the support of at least one major opposition party to pass; a defeat on matters of confidence, such as the coming budget, would topple the government.
The Liberals can probably rely on the support of the Conservatives to win ratification of the United States-Mexico-Canada-Agreement, despite the fact that the Tories have accused Trudeau of caving into concessions demanded by U.S. President Donald Trump.
The NDP and the Bloc are likely to oppose USMCA, which replaces the old North American Free Trade Agreement.
The government did introduce a ratification bill last year, but did not forge ahead with it, preferring not to get ahead of the ratification process in the U.S. The bill died when the election was called.