and to trade freely in natural resources. That first treaty lasted
twelve years but was not renewed following British support for the
Confederacy in the 1860s.
Another major effort at freer trade between the two nations was
made in 1911 when we negotiated a reciprocity agreement that
would have introduced free trade for agricultural products and re-
duced tariffs on manufactured products. That agreement was never
ratified by Canada because of concerns, stemming from U.S. political
rhetoric, that the free trade might have only been a first step in
eventual annexation of Canada.
During the mid-1930,s, the United States and Canada negotiated
an agreement that reduced U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods imposed
during the Depression under the Smoot-Hawley Ihriff rules. The pact
was renewed in 1938 but it was superseded in 1948 when both coun-
tries participated in the multilateral GATT.
At the present time, only one major bilateral economic accord—the
1965 treaty creating a duty-free market for automobiles and parta-
is in effect between the two countries.
The current talks are the first in nearly forty years in which the
United States and Canada have addressed the issue of freer trade.
They are the result of a summit meeting two years ago in March,
1985, between President Ronald Reagan and Prime Minister Brian
Mulroney.
The U.S. Congress has authorized the Reagan administration to
pursue these negotiations on a “fast track” basis. However, this au-
thority expires at the end of 1987. Tb meet the deadline, U.S. negotia-
tors need to submit whatever they have come up with to Congress by
early October. This means the negotiations have been conducted un-
der great time pressure.
On the agriculture side, we have held meetings at least once a
month since July, 1986. More recently, the meetings have been more
like once every other week. We have focused much attention on the
harmonization of health and sanitary regulations. A task force with
representatives from both governments was formed to discuss this
topic and I believe we have made some headway.
We have also undertaken to identify the various agricultural sub-
sidy programs —at the federal as well as the state and provincial
levels—that distort agricultural trade between our two countries.
The subsidy question is one of the more contentious issues being
addressed. In Canada, Secretary for External Affairs Joe Clark has
blamed both EC and U.S. subsidies for “devastating” the livelihood
of Canadian farmers. He says that, “Agricultural production in Eu-
rope is subsidized to an extent that defies all economic sense. The
United States finally responded to this structural distortion with
equally absurd export subsidies of its own” (Davies).
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