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The reason is that all members of the GATT recognize the perils of going down this road. If one country started to impose arbitrary, self-defined, unilateral import restrictions, based on its own standard of how other countries should govern themselves, then soon other countries would do the same and the world trading system would be in chaos.

Major trading sanctions have resulted from internationally recognized situations that required unified, multilateral response, such as sanctions on North Korea, or dealing with situations such as apartheid, in the past. Co-ordinated, agreed-upon sanctions should only be put into place through multilateral organizations such as the United Nations.

Unilateral, arbitrary, restrictions will lead to problems for all. It takes very little movement to go from “ethical” trade, to “fair” trade, as self-defined by which ever government wants to restrict imports. The current discussion in the United States focuses on this “fair” trade idea and with it, a possible 20-per-cent border adjustment tax, to make things “fair” for U.S. industries.

Such a tax would be devastating for Alberta and Canada for all its products, oil or otherwise.

Self-defined “ethical” justifications could lead to poorly informed or ideologically motivated restrictions based on views of Alberta being “unethical” in the way it manages its resource development, for example, the degree of clear-cutting in forestry, habitat destruction caused by forestry and energy exploration affecting woodland caribou and grizzly bears, any forestry or energy development without explicit consent or approval by any and all indigenous groups, agricultural practices involving drugs or chemicals considered “undesirable,” and oilsands development contributing to emissions growth being unacceptable at any level.

Trade restrictions need to be considered in light of explicit trade rules, fully documented and justified, and if imposed for certain “moral” or “ethical” ideas, done only in the context of internationally agreed upon sanctions through a multilateral forum.

Prospective governing parties, and current governing parties, need to consider two basic principles:

Trade restrictions usually harm the jurisdiction imposing the restriction as much as the other jurisdiction; Self-defined and arbitrary justifications for trade restrictions usually will come back to haunt and bite the jurisdiction using them.

All potential governing parties in Alberta should maintain their commitment to trade liberalization, and focus on market access and not try to justify arbitrary import restrictions.

Helmut Mach is a former Alberta trade representative and chief provincial trade negotiator.