Trade and International Policy - Op Eds

By Christopher Ragan

Even if we weren’t in the middle of a federal election campaign, there would be several important policy issues being discussed this summer. One of the big ones is Canada’s part in the negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a free-trade agreement with several Pacific Rim countries. Another is the development of carbon-pricing policies in Ontario and Alberta. Policy makers and ordinary Canadians alike should note that these policies have two big things in common, and one crucial difference.

Both free trade and carbon pricing are undertaken in the pursuit of a major, long-run prize. In the case of free trade, the prize is that our consumers get access to a wider range of products, often with…

By Dan Ciuriak

Lowering the rules of origin hurdle would boost trade, and enable more SMEs to enter into exporting

Most of Canada’s international traders are SMEs. Canada’s main trade policy tool today is the bilateral or regional free trade agreement (FTA), but FTAs come with administrative requirements, which put small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) at a disadvantage in accessing their benefits compared to larger domestic competitors.

One important administrative requirement is to provide the necessary documentation to show that products satisfy the rules of origin provisions that restrict access to the reduced or zero tariffs of the FTAs. For some products, this is easy – a Canadian crop is Canadian.…

By Lawrence Herman

Once the genie is out, it’s nigh impossible to get it back into the trade negotiations bottle.

That’s what happened in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade talks in Hawaii last week when Canada finally offered concessions regarding its protectionist supply management system. Unfortunately, trade ministers from the 12 negotiating countries couldn’t cement a final deal in Hawaii. They got pretty close, but some tricky issues remain unresolved beyond the dairy sector – patent rights, automotive issues, investment disputes, among others.

Australia and New Zealand are pushing for greater access to the U.S. market in the TPP talks and the U.S., in turn, is demanding concessions from…

Published in The Globe and Mail on June 30, 2015

By Christopher Ragan

Christopher Ragan is an associate professor of economics at McGill University in Montreal and a research fellow at the C.D. Howe Institute in Toronto.

Over the next few months, Canadians will hear a lot about the negotiations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and about the possibility that our “supply management” of the dairy and poultry industries is on the bargaining table. This might even become a significant issue in the fall federal election. So this seems like the right time for a primer.

TPP is an ambitious trade agreement, 10 years in the making so far, among 12 countries of the Pacific Rim, including the United…

Published in the Globe and Mail on May 17, 2015

By A.E. Safarian and Daniel Schwanen

A.E. Safarian is professor emeritus at the Rotman School of Management. He is the author of Simplifying the Rule Book: A Proposal to Reform and Clarify Canada’s Policy on Inward Foreign Direct Investment, recently published by the C.D. Howe Institute. Daniel Schwanen is vice-president, research, at the C.D. Howe Institute.

Canada has an image problem with foreign investors. We are notorious for our low ranking – 36th of 43 – among countries consistently surveyed by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development for the hurdles raised for foreign investors wishing to acquire or take an important…