Pressure is mounting on Canada to finish up a long-delayed trade deal with the
EU. Despite outstanding issues that still must be settled, there is a final push
to try and complete an agreement this summer. If both sides are able to secure a
deal, it would lay the groundwork for the proposed U.S.-EU trade pact. There is
the possibility that the U.S.-EU transatlantic trade talks could also include
the other NAFTA partners and maybe even other countries. Mexico has already
shown interest in joining and if Canada can’t put the final touches on their own
agreement with the EU, they might also be part of the negotiations. This would
facilitate plans for a coming NAFTA-EU free trade zone and the formation of a
transatlantic economic union.

During a speech given in November of last year, EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht called on
Mexico and the EU to modernize their existing trade agreement. Glyn Moody of techdirt
recently reported that Mexico is now looking to join the U.S.-EU transatlantic
deal. This would be one way for the EU and Mexico to upgrade trade relations.
Moody emphasized that the U.S. strategy is to, “make TPP the defining
international agreement for the entire Pacific region. TAFTA obviously aims to
do the same for the Atlantic. As well as establishing the U.S. as the key link
between the giant TPP and TAFTA blocs, this double-headed approach would also
isolate the main emerging economies -- Brazil, Russia, India and above all
China.” Just like the U.S. dominated Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), Mexico and Canada could also be a part of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership talks. This would make it a true NAFTA-EU trade bloc-level negotiations. There might be an opportunity for other countries
to join as Turkey is also pushing to be included in the trade deal.

In a recent article, Maude Barlow of the Council of Canadians described how CETA negotiations have laid the groundwork for a U.S.-EU free trade zone. She insisted that it would be a
mistake for all three NAFTA countries to be a part of a transatlantic agreement.
Barlow warned about some of the same dangers found in CETA that the U.S. could
face in their own trade deal with the EU. She stressed how opening up local
procurement to the EU should be of great concern to U.S. states and municipal
governments. In Canada, a number of municipalities have passed motions demanding
that they be excluded from the procurement rules in CETA which would restrict
local hiring and purchasing initiatives. Barlow also cautioned that an investor
protection chapter like the one in CETA would allow European multinationals to
sue for any potential profit losses related to U.S. government policies and
regulations. This would be worse than NAFTA’s Chapter 11 and as a
result, the U.S. would lose more sovereign rights. The Australian
government has already stopped the practice of including investor-state
dispute resolution procedures in trade agreements and now it’s time for other
countries follow suit.

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