{"id":178794,"date":"2018-08-27T22:28:30","date_gmt":"2018-08-28T02:28:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=178794"},"modified":"2018-08-27T22:28:30","modified_gmt":"2018-08-28T02:28:30","slug":"quebec-will-strongly-resist-compromises-trade-talks-u-s-couillard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2018\/08\/27\/quebec-will-strongly-resist-compromises-trade-talks-u-s-couillard\/","title":{"rendered":"Quebec will strongly resist any compromises in trade talks with U.S.: Couillard"},"content":{"rendered":"
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“There will be no compromises by my government,” Couillard said Monday. “On that we will have to be excessively clear.” (File Photo:<\/a> Philippe Couillard\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MONTREAL \u2014 Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard is talking tough on the question of supply management now that the focus switches to Canada after a new trade deal has been reached between the United States and Mexico.<\/p>\n

“There will be no compromises by my government,” Couillard said Monday. “On that we will have to be excessively clear.”<\/p>\n

The Quebec Liberal party leader made his declaration while campaigning for the Oct. 1 election in Trois-Rivieres, Que.<\/p>\n

Couillard’s remarks came after President Donald Trump announced the U.S. and Mexico have reached a bilateral trade “understanding” that could lead to an overhaul \u2014 or perhaps the termination \u2014 of the three-country North American Free Trade Agreement.<\/p>\n

Trump also invited Canada to rejoin trade negotiations with its NAFTA partners, while also threatening Ottawa that if it can’t each a deal, then he will impose devastating tariffs on automotive imports.<\/p>\n

Couillard admitted that the pressure on Canada will be enormous, but repeated several times to reporters that Quebec will strongly resist any compromises that are not acceptable.<\/p>\n

“We won’t give our approval and won’t take part in a deal that’s against Quebec’s interests,” he said.<\/p>\n

Couillard noted that Quebec is “also attached to what we call a cultural exception,” which he said directly affects the media and cultural organizations in Quebec.<\/p>\n

He also said that diplomatic efforts have borne fruit, noting that “voices in the U.S.” have called for a trilateral agreement.<\/p>\n

Couillard added that it would be difficult to do two separate bilateral agreements.<\/p>\n

Parti Quebecois Leader Jean-Francois Lisee warned Monday of “a danger zone” as the trade talks now turn toward Canada.<\/p>\n

He told reporters that he has heard Prime Minister Justin Trudeau say to the U.S. that he would be flexible on the issue of dairy supply management.<\/p>\n

Lisee added that he was worried that Canada was ready to make concessions on milk.<\/p>\n

But Couillard maintained that Trudeau has always said he would defend supply management as well as Quebec’s cultural exception.<\/p>\n

“I have no indication that Trudeau will make any compromises,” Couillard said.<\/p>\n

Coalition Avenir Quebec Leader Francois Legault said Monday that Canada should sign a trade agreement with the U.S. and Mexico as soon as possible.<\/p>\n

Legault said it’s crucial for the Quebec economy that a deal be reached among the three countries.<\/p>\n

He made the comment in Sherbrooke, Que., during the fifth day of the 39-day provincial election campaign.<\/p>\n

Legault said billions and billions of dollars are at stake for Quebec and he warned that well-paid workers would suffer a lot without a deal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MONTREAL \u2014 Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard is talking tough on the question of supply management now that the focus switches …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":139172,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-178794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news-ca","category-news","mauthors-peter-rakobowchuk","mauthors-the-canadian-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=178794"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178794\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=178794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=178794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=178794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}