Canadian & European Free Trade Agreement

[Addick]

Canada-EU trade proposal rivals scope of NAFTA
Plan to lift barriers for goods and labour to be discussed at summit after election

Globe and Mail
September 18, 2008
Doug Saunders

LONDON — Canadian and European officials say they plan to begin negotiating a massive agreement to integrate Canada's economy with the 27 nations of the European Union, with preliminary talks to be launched at an Oct. 17 summit in Montreal three days after the federal election.

Trade Minister Michael Fortier and his staff have been engaged for the past two months with EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson and the representatives of European governments in an effort to begin what a senior EU official involved in the talks described in an interview yesterday as “deep economic integration negotiations.”


If successful, Canada would be the first developed nation to have open trade relations with the EU, which has completely open borders between its members but imposes steep trade and investment barriers on outsiders...

Link to Story

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What does everybody reckon? I believe this is a very sustainable move. Financially, it opens up a large pool of investment and incredibly huge market. Socially, it provides the opportunity for the influence of another culture. Environmentally, European countries are a lot more progressive and environmentally-minded which might put some pressure on us. I really hope this goes through.

[arsenal]

yes please.

[Claeren]

ME too!

Just hope the government follows it up with some sort of program to encourage/train/teach average people and small business owners (in addition to the big companies) on how to capitalize on these new market possibilities. Could add a lot of new value (emphasis on value) to the Canadian economy.

It is a waste of time (IMO) if all it does is allow for some extra investment for mines or oil wells to come into the country. We already do too much of that. We need more value added products and services.



Claeren.

[arsenal]

I guess I should elaborate.

I am for this if it is good for canada, on a whole.
And makes it easier for people from canada or the EU nations to either to work for companies that are part of the treaty. As well as ease travel and live in the countries involved.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by Claeren

Just hope the government follows it up with some sort of program to encourage/train/teach average people and small business owners (in addition to the big companies) on how to capitalize on these new market possibilities. Could add a lot of new value (emphasis on value) to the Canadian economy.

I agree, if this makes it easier for a small business owner or workers between the various nations, then I'm all for it. These are for the most part high-quality countries we would be dealing with, so it's seems like a no brainer.

Now if we only had some sort of free-flow working agreement between Canada and the U.S....

[Ozy_Flame]

I like the idea of more movement of goods and labor across the pond, but I am not particularly excited about tying our economy to that of the European Union's, which hasn't exactly been rosy over the last 10 years.

EDIT: If this agreement was also a pledge to fast-track work visas for Canadians to go work and live in Europe, I am all for it then.

Alex Jones is going to blow a gasket over this one.

[Addick]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

EDIT: If this agreement was also a pledge to fast-track work visas for Canadians to go work and live in Europe, I am all for it then.

As someone who is making the hop back across the pond very soon, I sure hope it is!

[Vulcan]

I like it.
Since the UK joined the Common Market we joined NAFTA, we've been to closely tied to the USA. Lets just hope we don't give away the rest of the farm so we lose even more control of our resources.

[Azure]

Agreement should be made public shortly.

Apparently dairy farmers in Ontario are up in arms because part of the deal will supposedly include a clause that allows certain kinds of European cheese to be sold in Canada which will supposedly amount to $150 million worth of losses to Canadian dairy farmers.

[Table 5]

More cheese AND cheaper European cars....sounds good to me!

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/repor...board/follows/

Now if we could only get rid of that pesky 15-year import rule.

[jofillips]

i'm interested in learning more about the dairy opposition to this as it all seems to be potentially a major winner deal for them in the long term.
I heard that they're scared for the artisan cheese industry in Quebec, which confuses me cos if you look at the craft cheeses sold in supermarkets here, they seem to be made in 2 massive factories in Longeuil and Laval (opposite Quebec City).

Plus its gotta be great news for the Albertan Beef industry, last I read the beef quota had been increased to make it more economical for a chunk of farms/feedlots here to convert over to higher quality production (basically no hormones I believe) - in the long run this could all drive the quality of our steak up!

[Ozy_Flame]

I love me a Citroen or Renault. Please provide such services in the Calgary area whence this deal is approved.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by Table 5

More cheese AND cheaper European cars....sounds good to me!

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/repor...board/follows/

Now if we could only get rid of that pesky 15-year import rule.

lol, you think the cars will be cheaper? When does the price for cars ever go down once the market shows what it's willing to pay?

[Devils'Advocate]

If I remember by economics courses, if a company can afford to lower their prices and thus get more customers, they can increase profit. If you can sell 4 buckets at $10 or 20 buckets at $5. If it costs $4 to bring the bucket to market, you make $24 profit at $10 and $20 profit at $5. But if circumstances change such that it now costs $3 to bring the bucket to market, you make $28 profit at $10 and $40 profit at $5.

Edit: If we are talking sports cars, forget all that. The demand curve for sports cars is weird in that sometimes the higher the price, the more demand there is since having a $100,000 car is a status symbol.

[blankall]

Could be a good step towards moving away from Asian made goods. Europe environmental, quality, ethical, and labour record is far superior. This should make the higher quality European goods cheaper and more available.

If only we'd get rid of our dairy board. I need me some regular access to cheap European cheese.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by nik-

lol, you think the cars will be cheaper?

Yep.

I'm not saying we'll get all the savings (we won't), but removing a 6.1% tarif is bound to have some effect on prices. A company likes VW is increasingly more about Volume these days...and the more cars they can push out the better for their bottom line. Look how many more Jettas and Passats VW has sold the last couple of years by de-contenting their cars and chopping the price. If they can drop it even further, and sell another 10-15%, it will be worth it to them.

Even a luxury maker like BMW is pushing for volume. You might not get a discount on that 7-series...but if decreasing the price a bit gets more butts into a 1 or 2 Series, you bet they'll do it. Because they know that once you buy that 1 series, chances are you'll come back to upgrade at some point.

And further, car companies don't just make money the day you buy a car...they make money off the financing/leasing and long-term ownership as well. Buying the car itself is just the beginning of a (hopefully) long term relationship....and while they might give you a price drop on the car itself, they sure won't give you a discount on that 300% mark-up Johnson Rod that needs to be replaced when you come in for service.

[MaDMaN_26]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

EDIT: If this agreement was also a pledge to fast-track work visas for Canadians to go work and live in Europe, I am all for it then.

I'm all about this - I'd love to be able to travel and work with out going through a thousand hoops. If it free's up the restrictions there - awesome.

I'll admit I know very little and something may come to light that changes my mind completely - but my gut reaction is "Yaaaa Baaaaaby!" in Peter's voice.

[Ozy_Flame]

My girlfriend is a dual Canadian and Italian citizen, who can go work freely over there if she so pleases. Since my chances of getting any sort of status are slim to none in Italy (I'm a white Canadian, never been there or speak the language), I would love to get a work visa in an easier manner just so we can both go. I hope work visas (or the promise to make them easier) are part of this agreement now as I did five years ago earlier in this thread.

[polak]

Only people that can complain are those involved with inefficient processes that produce an inferior product at uncompetitive price to their European counterparts.

Not going to get much sympathy from me and I'm employed by a company that will feel at least a bit of the adverse effects.

On the flipside, outside of some poor economic policies and views that are held by some of the citizens in a few of the EU countries, overall they should be better, cleaner and more conscientious trading partners.

[Azure]

I also like this because European products are far superior to anything Asia offers. Especially in the manufacturing sector.