Kathleen Wynne stresses benefits of free trade with U.S. - for both countries

The Ontario Premier says businesses will have to become increasingly competitive in light of the current administration.

Thestar.com
Jan. 23, 2017
By Robert Benzie

With the dawn of a new protectionist era stateside, Premier Kathleen Wynne is appealing to U.S. governors to keep the free trade of goods and services flowing with Ontario.

Mindful of newly sworn-in President Donald Trump’s “America First” rhetoric on tariffs and trade deals, Wynne underscored the importance of relations between many states and Canada’s most populous province.

“It’s really important that we understand on both sides of the border that 20 American states have Ontario as their number one export market,” the premier said last week.

“Another seven have Ontario as their number two export market. That’s a strong, strong relationship and we need to continue to foster that,” she said.

One of those states is Indiana, whose governor until Jan. 9 was Trump’s Vice-President Mike Pence.

Indiana accounts for 3.21 per cent of all Ontario exports - behind only Michigan, California, New York and Ohio.

It also makes up 3.21 per cent of imports to the province, trailing Michigan, Ohio, New York and Illinois.

Indeed, Ontario buys more goods from the state of Indiana than it does from the nations of Japan, Germany, South Korea and the United Kingdom.

Wynne, who is closely allied to Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, said that’s why “states and provinces working together” is so crucial to both the Canadian and American economies.

Jointly, Ontario and Michigan are responsible for 26 per cent of all North American automotive production and the Windsor-Detroit border sees more than $74 billion of two-way trade annually.

“It is very important to us, obviously, in Ontario how we relate to the United States,” she said of the destination for 80.52 per cent of the province’s exports.

Her plea comes as the new president is thundering against pacts like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

In his fiery inauguration speech Friday, Trump bemoaned that the U.S. has “enriched foreign industry at the expense of American industry” and lamented the “rusted-out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation.”

“One by one, the factories shuttered and left our shores, with not even a thought about the millions and millions of American workers that were left behind. The wealth of our middle class has been ripped from their homes and then redistributed all across the world,” the billionaire developer said.

“But that is the past — and now, we are looking only to the future. From this day forward, it’s going to be only America First, America First. Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs will be made to benefit American workers and American families,” he said.

“We must protect our borders from the ravages of other countries making our products, stealing our companies and destroying our jobs. Protection will lead to great prosperity and strength.”

On the White House website, the Trump administration touts “withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership” to which Canada is a party - and warns changes are looming for NAFTA.

“President Trump is committed to renegotiating NAFTA. If our partners refuse a renegotiation that gives American workers a fair deal, then the president will give notice of the United States’ intent to withdraw from NAFTA,” the website says.

Against that backdrop, Wynne wants businesses on both sides of the border to rally.

“We don’t know exactly what the incoming U.S. administration is going to mean for Ontario, but here’s what we do know. At the start of what could be a protectionist era, we need our businesses to be increasingly competitive,” she said.

“And we need to make sure that our neighbours understand the mutual benefits of Canada-U.S. trade and specifically Ontario-U.S. trade.”

Wynne, who backed Democrat Hillary Clinton in the Nov. 9 president race against the Republican Trump, has long been warning of the perils of curbing free trade.

In an interview with the Star at the Canadian embassy in Washington last June, she warned he was “very dangerous for Canada” and “very dangerous for the world.”