South Korean Trade
Agreement Must Provide Free Market Access for Canadian Industry
WINDSOR
- The Liberal Party will not support a Canada-South Korea free trade
agreement unless it substantially eliminates existing trade barriers and
provides free market access to allow Canadian industry to compete, Liberal
Leader Stéphane Dion said today.
“We
will only support trade agreements that offer Canadian companies the same
privileges in foreign markets as foreign companies have in our open and
vibrant market,” said Mr. Dion said before a roundtable discussion with
business leaders from Canada’s automotive industry.
“Any
trade agreement that does not ensure this is not a real free trade
agreement at all; it’s simply a mistake. And Canada’s manufacturing
sector cannot afford any more mistakes from this Conservative
government.”
Mr.
Dion made his comments following a tour of Canadian automotive plants in
Oshawa and Cambridge, Ontario.
He
explained a future Liberal government will be committed to a multilateral
approach to free trade and will put Canada’s long-term economic
interests first, instead of claiming false victories over hastily signed
agreements, as was the case in the flawed softwood lumber agreement that
forced Canadian industry to surrender $1-billion in illegally collected
duties to United States and did not resolve the longstanding trade
dispute.
Mr.
Dion called on the Conservative government to ensure that all tariffs and
non-tariff barriers, such as arbitrary taxes and rapidly shifting
standards regulations that keep Canadian-made cars off of Korean streets,
restricting the export of Canadian products to South Korea are eliminated.
He also demanded that an effective dispute-settling mechanism be put in
place to allow for meaningful compensatory action if new non-tariff
barriers emerge, such action would include, if necessary, the immediate
reintroduction of applicable tariffs.
“Real
free trade must address tariff barriers and non-tariff barriers, which are
tremendously important for the auto sector in particular,” he said.
“Almost one third of South Korea’s exports to our country are
automotive exports. But the problem is that for nearly every 400 cars
South Korea ships to Canada, it imports just one.”
Canadian
Manufacturers and Exporters President Jayson Myers agreed with the Liberal
position on the potential bilateral agreement.
“For
Canada to benefit from a free trade agreement with South Korea, Canadian
manufacturers and exporters need to have free access to the Korean
market,” said Mr. Myers. “The elimination of tariffs and regulatory
restrictions that currently impede access into the Korean market is a
precondition for a successful trade agreement.”
The
Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association President Mark Nantais also
welcomed the Liberal Leader’s commitment to ensuring market access to
South Korea as a minimum condition to complete a deal.
"Korea's
auto market is one of the most significant in the world," said Mr.
Nantais, "Free trade and fair market access into auto markets
globally are increasingly critical to Canada's auto manufacturers in order
to maintain high levels of plant productivity and employment.
We want an FTA that allows our members and the vehicles they
produce in Canada the opportunity to compete fairly in South Korea."
Mr.
Dion pointed out that strengthening free trade is essential to saving
Canada’s struggling manufacturing sector, which has lost 90,000
manufacturing jobs since January, including 31,000 in the month of June
alone.
“Liberal
governments understood the importance of negotiating effective free trade
agreements,” he said. “A belief in an open and competitive economy is
at the core of the Liberal philosophy for Canada.”
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Contact:
Press
Office
Office
of the Leader of the Opposition
(613) 995-5904
