Close to 50 people took part in a consultation session on the North American Trade Agreement negotiations at the University of Windsor Wednesday.
Residents — both in support, and opposed to changes in the agreement — addressed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Canada-US Relations Andrew Leslie from 2pm to 3pm.
Before speaking with the public, Leslie spent the afternoon engaged in a round-table discussion with economic experts and members of the business community throughout Windsor-Essex.
US President Donald Trump initiated the renegotiation of NAFTA as part of a campaign promise. A resident involved in the auto-sector asked Leslie what would happen if the trade agreement ended with the US, he says neighbours and closest trading partners should be careful what they wish for.
"We already meet all the American requirements, but, just be careful what you ask for. The Americans want to be able to trace each component, in each class of automobile," says Leslie. "How are you going to do that when a car can cross the border — especially between Detroit and Windsor — five, six, seven, times in its manufacturing cycle?"
He tells AM800 News at the end of the day, "if it isn't broke, don't fix it."
"Do you pay tariffs every-time? Is it a Canadian car by the time it’s sold at the final end-state or an American car? Really, really tough to figure that out because our two economies are so closely twined together," says Leslie. "This is a model of efficiency and creativity we've constructed over the last 23-years with NAFTA."
Canada is committed to keeping all three countries involved in NAFTA, according to Leslie.
"Our relationship with both the US and Mexico is superb, we've gotten to know Mexico an awful lot better over the last year and we believe in the tri-lateral approach to NAFTA," he says. "We believe that NAFTA provided enormous value to all three of our countries, so let’s just focus on getting that which we can out of NAFTA."
Liberal MP for Orleans says Canada is the largest trading partner with the US — exchanging more goods with the US than China, Great Britain, and Japan combined.