Trading With Friends
Friends. They're important to us. We need the interaction, the human contact. No man is an island, and no country, no nation really wishes to be isolated from its neighbouring country. As a matter of practicality, for one thing. Let alone the fact that geographic proximity means that there will be movement between borders, of people, of goods. Most often, when two countries share close borders the citizens of each country have family who have gravitated at one time or another to the other country. When countries share a geographic location they also share weather, geographic features, language, social custom, styles of governance, societal values, and the rule of law. More, rather than less, although the devil is always in the details.When two countries share an entire continent (with, admittedly, another country somewhat removed from the furthest-located country) they tend also to share security interests and because of geographic convenience, a natural trading convergence. Countries in close geographic proximity in such an arrangement can become each other's largest trading partners. And because they are so close geographically they can often take one another for granted, become hyper-critical of one another at times, and have higher expectations of their relationship than may be warranted.
Ahah! if one of the countries is larger by far than the other, then it's the case of the horse and the flea: OH DEAR, SAID THE FLEA, THERE'S A HORSE ON ME! And, in which case the larger of the two has a marked tendency to take advantage, to bully the smaller.
Which is most certainly what occurs between Canada and the United States. On the other hand, when it comes to trade, culture, security or any other single matter of a nation's moment, the United States, as one of the largest and wealthiest, most influential, most well-armed militarily, most advantaged countries on earth, tends to throw its considerable weight around wherever and whenever it deems advisably advantageous. By extension, no nation on earth is immune to American intervention, interests or grasp.
Canada thought it had full protection against abuse when it signed on to a Free Trade Agreement with the United States, for the two countries co-signed official legal documentation recognized in law by both countries, to ensure that would be the case. And they convened a permanent trade dispute panel representing the fair interests of both countries to ensure that fairness in trade would be the order of the day. Protectionist policies would be a thing of the past, free trade would mean just that; two countries agreeing to agree to further the economic prosperity of both.
Canada should have known better, and likely did know better, but hoped for better. In the end, though, U.S. law and interests transcends any and all international treaties and obligations, and so it has proved once again. The U.S. lobby representing any sore-point industry would always trump international treaties and obligations. Despite the joint dispute resolutions finding in favour of Canada in any area of dispute, most recently softwood lumber, American interests trod roughshod over international fairness.
A newly-installed government in Canada whose orientation is more akin to that of our geographic cousins has found it wiser to agree to take our lumps, deserved or not. And because Canada has agreed to a resolution of the long-running softwood lumber dispute simply to bring an end to the ongoing economic war between the two nations, the effectiveness and legitimacy of NAFTA has been imperilled. At any time, for any reason, representing any contentious item of trade between the two countries, the United States has carte blanch to do as it has always done: roll over on its neighbour.
The Horse crushing the Flea.
posted by Pieface @ Tuesday, May 02, 2006
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