Canada has signed on to a revised version of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement, a deal that promises to boost exports of Canadian-built Fords to Australia and elsewhere.
According to Australian car magazine GoAuto, the deal now known as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans Pacific Partnership eliminates that country's five per cent vehicle import tariff for cars and trucks brought in from other members of the free trade agreement.
The signing comes months before Ford of Australia is set to begin importing the Oakville, Ontario-built Edge (to be renamed Endura for down under) as a replacement for the long-running, Oz-built Territory crossover.
Eliminating that tariff could see the price of the Endura knocked down by as much as AUD$2,000.
But while Ford's Canadian and Australian divisions could benefit from the TPP, the deal continues to draw heavy criticism from other quarters in the Canadian auto industry, including Unifor, the union that represents Canada's auto workers.
"Despite a new name, there is nothing remotely progressive about the TPP, and Unifor remains opposed to this bad trade deal,” said Unifor National President Jerry Dias in a release on the union's website. “Rebranding TPP as Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership is a joke. It isn’t progress for workers — it’s a broken promise by the government.”
Flavio Volpe of Canada's Auto Parts Manufacturer's Association said signing on to the TPP "could not be a dumber move at a more important time."
Dias also said Canada's signing on to the revised TPP would harm Canada's efforts to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with the United States' protectionist administration. But both Canadian and Mexican negotiators say the TPP won't affect their efforts to rework the trade deal with the United States.
You may also like
