SUN VALLEY, IDAHO -- Canada will push for major changes to NAFTA that
will
cut short seemingly perpetual trade disputes over softwood lumber and
other
flashpoints, Prime Minister Paul Martin said yesterday.
In his first trip abroad since the June 28 election, Mr. Martin said
he
wants the North American free-trade agreement recast so that trade
tribunals
can quickly -- and definitively -- resolve such disputes. "Open
markets
should mean open markets. There has to be a court of final appeal," he
said,
minutes before speaking to an audience of international media moguls
and
high-tech tycoons at an exclusive annual retreat in the fashionable
resort
of Sun Valley.
The Prime Minister announced only on Tuesday that he would attend the
Sun
Valley conference, which, officially, is not open to the news media.
However, Mr. Martin spoke briefly to reporters before his speech. He
said
that addressing the conference gave him the opportunity to air
Canada's
trade concerns before influential media executives from across the
United
States.
In his speech, he criticized "the lack of commitment, the lack of
leadership
to respecting the results of the NAFTA dispute settlement," according
to a
transcript.
News Corp. chief executive Rupert Murdoch, Hewlett-Packard chairman
Carly
Fiorina, Disney chief Michael Eisner and celebrated investor Warren
Buffett
were among the most familiar names in the audience. Microsoft's Bill
Gates
and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger were on the guest list.
Failure to streamline NAFTA will imperil business confidence in Canada,
the
United States and Mexico -- and could undermine the competitiveness of
all
three as Asian economies accelerate, Mr. Martin told reporters. "As
countries like China and India come on, North America is going to have
to
get a lot more efficient. And you can't get efficient if, in fact,
you've
got ongoing trade disputes between the three NAFTA partners."
Mr. Martin singled out the three-year-old dispute over Canadian
softwood
lumber exports several times as a motivation for streamlining the
mechanisms
for resolving trade disputes, which lie at the very heart of NAFTA.
Trade
panels are empowered to rule on disputes, but their decisions are
subject to
appeal on several fronts -- and complainants can launch nearly
identical
cases even if they lose.
The dispute over softwood lumber has dragged on, with one softwood
executive
recently speculating that even if Canada won, its U.S. opponents would
simply launch another complaint. Mr. Martin took direct aim at that
approach
yesterday. "We've got to find a way in which disputes cannot only be
settled, but settled permanently."
Ironically, a 1980s U.S.-Canada spat over softwood lumber gave impetus
to
the creation of the free-trade agreement between the two countries near
the
end of the decade, an accord that was the predecessor of NAFTA.
Trade consultant Peter Clark said that Canada tried -- and failed --
in
negotiations to get provisions that allow panel decisions to supplant
U.S.
trade law.
"We didn't get it in '88. We certainly didn't get it in NAFTA," said
Mr.
Clark, president of Grey Clark Shih and Associates, an international
trade
consultancy.
Mr. Clark said success on Mr. Martin's part now would be a "very
significant
change" for NAFTA as it affects Canada, noting that the fact that the
Prime
Minister spoke out on the issue on his first international trip since
the
election demonstrates that the matter will be a priority for the
government.
But he cautioned that there are two imposing impediments. The first is
the
necessity of changing U.S. trade law with NAFTA. The second is the
dynamics
of the U.S. presidential election, where the Democrats are at least as
protectionist as the current administration, Mr. Clark said.
Before his speech, Mr. Martin said he would address trade issues and
security concerns -- particularly the need for Canada and other
countries to
help rebuild institutions in failing states.
During his remarks, he said "an enormous international effort" is
required.
"And it is one, to be quite honest, which I don't think that we as
nations
have begun to face up to," he said, according to the transcript.
Despite the fact that media executives made up a big part of his
audience,
Mr. Martin's prepared remarks did not dwell on issues such as
Canadian-content rules or foreign-ownership restrictions in
broadcasting and
newspapers.
But in questions from U.S. reporters about the restrictions, he said
cultural industries are "manifestations of sovereignty," while pointing
out
that current rules have not prevented U.S. broadcasters from selling
their
wares.Globeandmail.com:
