Canada Should Drive Ambitious Agenda at World Trade Talks, Business Leaders Say

May 5, 2003

Total elimination of all tariffs worldwide on industrial goods is the lead item in an ambitious Canadian agenda proposed today by the Canadian Council of Chief Executives (CCCE) for the Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations now underway in the World Trade Organization (WTO).

“Canada also should examine its own remaining tariff barriers and consider the costs and benefits of setting an example for the world through unilateral action or through action by a coalition of willing members of the WTO,” the Council adds in a major paper entitled “Prosperity, Freedom and Security: Renewing Canada’s Commitment to Multilateral Trade Liberalization”.

WTO Ministers will be meeting in Cancun, Mexico in September, and this meeting is likely to be decisive in determining the real level of ambition and scope of what is to be negotiated in the round of talks launched in Doha, Qatar in November, 2001.

The negotiating process is under severe strain and several deadlines already have been missed. The Council’s paper, which recommends 12 priorities for Canadian negotiators, says leadership by Canada in driving an ambitious agenda will be essential both to rebuild the credibility that has been lost through past failures to meet deadlines and more generally to reinforce confidence in multilateral institutions and processes.

“Only a multilateral rules-based system can provide the predictability and security that Canadian businesses need in order to flourish both at home and in the global economy. And especially at a time when sharp divisions on issues of security are undermining the effectiveness of other international institutions, it is vital to demonstrate that the multilateral path is indeed the best way to advance the human condition around the world,” the paper states.

The Council acknowledges that the most important issues, including trade in services, agricultural products and industrial goods as well as non-tariff barriers and dispute resolution, are also the most complex and sensitive politically.

“Agreement may well prove impossible on particular issues in the short term. What must not be permitted is for the overall negotiation to founder either because of a lack of political will or because of an apparent lack of interest on the part of the business community or other key stakeholders,” the paper states.

The Council, composed of the chief executives of 150 leading Canadian enterprises, was known as the Business Council on National Issues until late 2001. Under its new name and expanded mandate, it engages in public policy issues in Canada, North America and globally.

In January, it launched the North American Security and Prosperity Initiative by proposing a bold strategy for reshaping Canada’s relationship with its largest trading partner and ally, the United States, and in April brought 70 of its member chief executives to Washington, D.C. for initial meetings with key American decision-makers.

With the release of today’s paper, the Council is emphasizing that the links between economic and security issues at the heart of its North American initiative are just as important at the global level. “The battle against terrorism will not be fought with weapons alone. The benefits that flow broadly around the world from the expansion of trade and investment flows have had, and will continue to have, a powerful positive impact on the world’s collective security.”

The Council’s Chairman is Richard L. George, President and Chief Executive Officer of Suncor Energy Inc., and its President and Chief Executive is Thomas d’Aquino. The Council’s members head companies that administer some C$2.1 trillion in assets and have annual revenues of about C$500 billion, and account for a significant majority of Canada’s private sector investment, exports, training and research and development.