You also say:
At this point, participation in the TPP raises more questions for Canada than it answers. Gordon Ritchie, who was so pivotal in negotiating Canada-U.S. Free Trade, suggests the TPP will not be worth much to Canada. I agree.
You say, “the near-term prospects are, frankly, underwhelming.” You point out that Canada already has free trade agreements with four participants.
...there is thus little new market access that Canada can gain from Chile, Peru and Mexico. And, the U.S. has made it clear that market access discussions with Canada will be one way—[going] South.
There was a sermon from my honourable colleague, Mr. Holder, about the value of trade agreements, but you point out that “Canada has negative trade balances with all members of the current TPP group other than the U.S. and Australia.”
For the countries we have trade agreements with, there are negative trade balances. With Chile, we have a $1 billion deficit. With Mexico, we're have a $21 billion deficit. With Peru, it's a $3 billion deficit. We've had trade agreements with some of these countries for a long time. We have deficits with Vietnam, Singapore, New Zealand, Malaysia. Brunei is a wash. With Australia, there's a slight surplus, and the same with the U.S.
When you point out that we have negative trade balances, even when we have trade agreements with some of these countries, can this possibly be of economic value to Canada?