The Past Speaks

I recently discussed how the Canada-EU trade agreement talks are inching towards an actual deal. I said that the tentative agreement between Canada and the EU that was announced last week would be important both as a stand-alone agreement and a template for the ongoing negotiations between the United States and the European Union for a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) . Speaking last July, former US Trade Representative Carla Hills argued for the three NAFTA countries to negotiate as a bloc with the EU.

Hills served as U.S. trade representative (1989-93) in the first Bush administration. Perhaps we should listen to her advice on this issue. Merging the CETA and TTIP talks might allow for a more comprehensive agreement than the rather limited one the governments of Canada and the EU appear to have in mind. The TTIP negotiation sessions planned for last week (7-11 October 2013) in Brussels had to be cancelled due to the US administration shutdown.  Now that the shutdown has ended and US diplomats are back at work, the issue of broadening the trade talks can be reopened.