{"id":6199,"date":"2025-04-04T12:38:17","date_gmt":"2025-04-04T16:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communist-party.ca\/?p=3699"},"modified":"2025-07-03T15:04:56","modified_gmt":"2025-07-03T19:04:56","slug":"fair-trade-not-free-trade-or-tariffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communist-party.ca\/fr\/fair-trade-not-free-trade-or-tariffs\/","title":{"rendered":"Fair trade, not “free trade” or tariffs"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Communists say: Save jobs!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Withdraw from USMCA now \u2013 fair trade with the world, not free trade with the U.S.
\u2022 Nationalize the auto industry, starting with U.S. operations in Canada
\u2022 Nationalize basic steel
\u2022 Raise EI to 90% of previous earnings for the full period of unemployment
\u2022 Enact plant closure legislation with teeth<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

U.S. tariffs have already led to the layoff of 4,500 autoworkers, including 3,200 at Stellantis\u2019 auto assembly plant in Windsor. This is just the beginning, with over 100,000 jobs in Canada directly tied to auto parts and assembly, and hundreds of thousands more tied to the communities that support the auto industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S. tariffs on steel have likewise already led to layoffs at Algoma Steel in Sault Ste. Marie, with hundreds more to come as blast furnaces shut down. Workers at steel plants in Hamilton\u2014including Dofasco, Stelco, and National Steel Car\u2014are next in line as the impacts of U.S. tariffs rain down on the industry and the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The immediate need for workers is Employment Insurance benefits that cover the rent or mortgage, heating and gas bills, and still put food on the table. Urgent action to increase EI benefits to 90% of previous earnings, and to cover the full period of unemployment, is essential to protect workers and their families. This is the EI reform the Communist Party is demanding be put in place now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further, plant closure legislation with teeth is urgently needed. Corporations planning to close and move Canadian operations to the U.S.\u2014as Trump hopes will result from massive tariffs\u2014must be required to justify closures and layoffs before a public tribunal with the power to stop them, and with the ability to apply penalties, including fines and jail time for corporate executives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Workers need long-term job security and stability in the auto and steel industries. The way to deliver this is by ending private ownership and control, and implementing public ownership and democratic control of the auto industry, starting with GM, Ford, and Stellantis. The production of a Canadian car and the reorganization of the industry to include municipal and inter-urban transit will end the decades-long threats of layoffs and closures that escalated with the end of the Auto Pact and are now in free fall under Trump and the MAGA movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of free trade with the U.S., Canada needs multilateral and mutually beneficial trade with the world. This includes lifting Canadian tariffs on China, which were imposed under U.S. pressure\u2014the same country now hitting Canada and the world with huge tariffs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A publicly owned and democratically controlled basic steel industry will be central to building a strong Canadian economy, with value-added jobs in manufacturing, secondary industry, and the construction of social housing and municipal infrastructure. Full employment\u2014not mass unemployment\u2014will be the result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Liberals\u2019 plan to create jobs by building a military-industrial complex and increasing spending on NATO, NORAD, and Arctic militarization follows U.S. directives and reinforces U.S. control over Canada\u2019s foreign policy. It will lead to war. These massive expenditures will also cause job losses and cuts to vital programs like Medicare, CBC, and Canada Post. Social spending, not military spending, is what meets people\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The idea that militarizing the Canadian economy will scare the Trump administration and stop his proposed annexation of Canada\u2014or his interference in our elections\u2014is wishful thinking. The U.S. military is the biggest and most aggressive in the world. Canada\u2019s best defense is an independent foreign policy of peace and disarmament, withdrawal from NATO and NORAD, and redirecting those funds to create jobs, meet social needs, and strengthen labour and democratic rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark Carney\u2019s meetings in Europe were about new trade partners\u2014but with the same old trade policies: foreign ownership, exploitation, and corporate control that leave workers and our country just as vulnerable as under USMCA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These talks also concern new political and military partners\u2014again, with the same policies of militarism and war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of NATO, militarism and war, Canada needs a foreign and domestic policy based on peace, disarmament, jobs, social programs, and public services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carney\u2019s negotiation of a \u201cnew\u201d or \u201cbetter\u201d USMCA deal will only deepen disastrous U.S. control of Canada. It\u2019s why Carney was Harper\u2019s pick for Finance Minister in 2012. These \u201cfree trade\u201d deals have always been about strengthening the control of the biggest national and transnational corporations across the continent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s why the Communist Party has consistently opposed and fought these deals since 1988\u2014and on its own since 1994. These deals are bad for working people, sovereignty, and democracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of free trade with the U.S., Canada needs multilateral and mutually beneficial trade with the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Central Executive Committee, Communist Party of Canada<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Communists say: Save jobs! \u2022 Withdraw from USMCA now \u2013 fair trade with the world, not free trade with the U.S.\u2022 Nationalize the auto industry, starting with U.S. operations in Canada\u2022 Nationalize basic steel\u2022 Raise EI to 90% of previous earnings for the full period of unemployment\u2022 Enact plant closure legislation with teeth<\/p>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":6275,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,111],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-labour","category-trade-agreements"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communist-party.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communist-party.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communist-party.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communist-party.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communist-party.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6199"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/communist-party.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6199\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6290,"href":"https:\/\/communist-party.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6199\/revisions\/6290"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communist-party.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communist-party.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communist-party.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communist-party.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}