The long awaited phone call between PM Martin and US President Bush has finally happened.
...CTV's Ottawa bureau chief Robert Fife reported that Martin told Bush that Canada has won several NAFTA rulings, including trade panels where the majority of judges were American, and pressed the U.S. leader to comply with the free trade agreement.
The U.S. has collected $5 billion in duties on Canadian softwood imports since May 2002. The U.S. has been arguing that Canada unfairly subsidizes its softwood producers.
According to Fife, Martin told the U.S. president that if the tables were turned, Canada would respect the outcome.
Bush responded by saying that the U.S. wants NAFTA to work, but both sides have to reach an agreement in negotiations, to which Martin said that there was no sense in negotiating when Canada has already won.
We will see where this leads. It is not quite true that Canada had already won. We were on a winning streak but the last trade ruling was in the Americans favour (note: not all rulings are NAFTA related. I am pretty sure the last one we lost was a WTO ruling. Thanks for the heads up Deanna). If negotiating will actual get some closure then it is better than not and having this drag on. At least there is progress, glacial progress, but progress nonetheless. And I am realistic enough to realize that slow progress is about the best we are going to get - regardless of who is in power.
