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Ignorance about basic international trade rules is muddying the debate over TPP

Canadian suppliers would not be entitled to enhanced access to the U.S. market granted to the 10 other TPP members

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It’s time to answer some of the misguided arguments about Canada rejecting the TPP Agreement that are being bandied about.

I was dismayed to hear pundits and political candidates claim that, because 85 per cent of our exports are covered under the NAFTA and other trade bilateral agreements, we really don’t need to be part of the TPP anyway.

This shows a regrettable misunderstanding of international trade rules and Canada’s treaty commitments, whether under the World Trade Organization Agreement or elsewhere. So let’s review all this.

Start with the WTO Agreement. It’s a multilateral treaty that legally binds Canada and virtually all other countries around the globe. The fundamental WTO rule is that member states can’t discriminate among goods and services from their WTO trading partners.