The Canada United States Free Trade Agreement

A joint conference was held in Washington in January, 1988, to assess the major features of the agreement. This volume includes the papers prepared for that conference, and the remarks of discussants on each paper. Includes a US and Canadian perspective, dispute resolution mechanisms, the auto sector, implications of the energy provisions, services and investment, implications for the Uruguay round, and the political perspectives from a Canadian government minister and a US administration representative.

Building a Partnership: The Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement is a selection of papers and commentary, drawn from a September 1998 conference held at Michigan State University, examines in detail the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement. The work underscores how this pact paved the way for the North American Free Trade Agreement. The work also includes essays written by Canadian and American policy makers, including Derek Burney and James Baker, III; these are augmented by a series of insightful papers and commentary written by scholars and informed observers. Roger Porter, from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, summarizes and places the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement into a framework for the future, one that includes trade agreements with other countries in the Western Hemisphere. This analysis of Canada's bilateral trade agreement with the United States is timely and thought-provoking. With Contributions By: James A. Baker, III James Blanchard Derek H. Burney William A. Dymond Geza Feketekuty Michael Hart Gary Hufbauer Barbara Kotschwar Mordechai E. Krenin Richard G. Lipsey Peter McPherson Mustafa Mohatarem Sylvia Ostry Roger B. Porter David B. Schweikhardt Konrad von Finckstein Paul Wonnacott.

Provides extensive legal analysis of key issues associated with understanding the policy implications of the Agreement. Topics discussed include dispute resolution procedures and the effects of the review mechanism that applies to the trade laws of both countries; technical aspects of the free trade area and some of the specific issues involved in the elaboration of national treatment; Canadian constitutional dimensions and the issues involved in implementation of the Agreement; and the broader implications for Canada's sovereignty.

Canada is the largest trading partner of the United States, and the two governments have begun negotiations for a free trade agreement which would tie their relationship even closer. This study analyzes the difficult problems that must be addressed in the negotiations - including quite different perceptions in the two countries of what constitutes fair trade. It suggests several possible ways of reducing differences over subsidies and countervailing duties. It also addresses the exchange rate relationship between the two dollars, and how this affects the trade outlook. An appendix by John Williamson calculated a fundamental equilibrium exhange rate for the Canadian dollar.