Auto Pact essays

Auto Pact essays In May of 2000 the World Trade Organization (WTO) ended the Canadian made Auto Pact. The Auto Pact was an agreement constructed by Pierre Trudeau in 1965 that allowed companies to bring auto parts and vehicles from anywhere in the world into Canada without any tariff, but with two conditions. One condition was a requirement of commitment to jobs in Canada, manufacturers had to produce one car in Canada for everyone they sold. They also had to maintain a Canadian Value Added (CVA), which basically means no depreciation on Canadian made machinery and that parts in assembly were also made in Canada. Automotive trade markets are among the most open in the world. They maintain no tariff barriers. This treaty kept North America happy however; the overseas companies were left with the shorter end of the stick. This caused the fall of the Auto Pact. The Auto Pact is too important to Canada, and Canada will suffer extreme losses.(reword) (give the main points) The 1965 Auto Pact is Canadas most successful trade agreement. We should be kissing his ass, says the wise yet youthful Jon Cooper as he refers to Trudeaus ingenious scheme. It is a building block of Canada. Since signing the Auto Pact, the Canadian automotive industry has enjoyed enormous growth. Production and automotive manufacturing employment have increased 200% and automotive shipments grew from $2.2 billion in 1964 to $70.5 billion in 1995. The main two focuses of Trudeaus were exports and employment. Trudeau increased the automotive sales from a once scarce Canadian industry into its top export. His other concern, creating employment doubled. Without the Auto Pact enforcing these numbers they will fall. The Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) president Buzz Hargrove said at the Caw Joint Council meeting in December 2000 that the Auto Pact was: A trading pact that has meant so much to the growth of the...