"My concern is this: every time we have made concessions so far it has not provided us with any additional concessions from the United States," said Fast
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WASHINGTON, D.C. — With Canada and the United States engaged in tense trade negotiations over tariffs, and U.S. President Donald Trump’s team signalling that it wants annual reviews rather than a renewal of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), National Post reached out to former International Trade Minister Ed Fast for his view on the current state of Canada-U.S. trade relations and the ongoing talks.
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Fast served under Prime Minister Stephen Harper from 2011 to 2015, helping negotiate major agreements, including CETA, the Canada-South Korea deal, and the Trans-Pacific Partnership. He argues that Canada should seek a broader continental bargain — encompassing trade, critical-mineral supply, energy and defence — rather than negotiate CUSMA in isolation.
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Ed Fast: The reason Canada should be broadening out the negotiation with the United States is because of the asymmetry in our economic partnership. The U.S. economy is 10 times the size of our own, and any tariff war we get into is going to hurt us more than it hurts the United States.
