The U.S imposed tariffs against Canadian steel and aluminum were officially lifted on Monday morning after it was announced the two sides had reached a tentative deal on Friday. The 25 percent tax against Canadian steel, and 10 percent tax against Canadian aluminum are gone. With a Canadian tax on U.S exports like bourbon, licorice, and playing cards also a thing of the past.
Grande Prairie-MacKenzie MP Chris Warkentin says it’s a good news day for Canada as a whole, but believes we still have a couple of mountains to climb when it comes to healthier relations with our closest neighbour.
“Of course we still have issues with softwood lumber, we still have issues with a number of other different policy areas that were never negotiated and never solved during the NAFTA renegotiations.”
With the North American Free Trade Agreement still having to be ratified through the house of commons, and south of the border in the U.S Senate, Warkentin believes the failed negotiations in the lead up to NAFTA 2.0 was a missed opportunity by the Trudeau Government.
“It needed to be a condition of the NAFTA renegotiations. I believe strongly there were a number of things that had been sticking points through the years that needed to be resolved when we had the opportunity, a once in a generation time to renegotiate NAFTA.”
Warkentin adds he hopes the next negotiations in place are to help ease the burden felt by farmers in the Peace Region as the Chinese government continues its ban on the import of Canadian canola.