Nov. 9, 2016
While the futures of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) are shrouded with uncertainty after Donald Trump’s election as U.S. president, Canada may be in an advantageous trade position, according to an article in Legal Feeds. Jennifer Brown’s article examines the potential impact of president-elect Trump’s win on cross-border trade partnerships and what lies in store for Canada. Osler partner Riyaz Dattu, who specializes in international trade and investment law, explains why Canada may be in an “enviable” trade position moving forward.
“It could be an important time for in-house lawyers to take a strategic look at the trade agreements Canada has with a number of countries,” Riyaz tells Legal Feeds. “It’s clear Canada would have a number of years of advantage in having these trade agreements in place and it appears the U.S. would be lagging behind for the first time in decades.”
Riyaz also tells Legal Feeds why he thinks Trump’s election may affect U.S. negotiations on trade agreements, which “are the mandate of the president and given Trump’s position on NAFTA and the TPP it’s hard to see, at least in the immediate future, the U.S. taking any great initiatives.”
Riyaz also addressed the criticism of NAFTA during the presidential campaign and says Canada will not be left behind.
“If in fact NAFTA is revoked by the United States that will take a period of time but we also have in place the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement,” Riyaz tells Legal Feeds. “I can see that potentially being revived if anything happened to NAFTA. That could provide the basis for stronger commitment between Canada and the United States.
“There’s going to be a great period of uncertainty but when the dust settles and as the Canadian government continues to advocate we will be in a better position down the road.”
To find out more, read the full article “Are NAFTA and TPP in question with Trump win?” in Legal Feeds on November 9, 2016.