Free trade with South Korea would costs thousands of jobs, Hargrove warns
Canadian Press | Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Free trade with South Korea would costs thousands of jobs, Hargrove warns
OTTAWA (CP) — A free trade agreement with South Korea would cost thousands of jobs in Canada, union leader Buzz Hargrove warned Tuesday.
Hargrove, head of the Canadian Auto Workers, said Canada would be a loser in such a deal because history suggests South Korea would not allow open access to its domestic markets.
"We stand to do nothing but lose in another hastily prepared free trade agreement," he said.
Canada and South Korea have been discussing a free trade deal for about a year.
Hargrove took his concerns Tuesday to International Trade Minister David Emerson. He said the minister listened to the union’s worries and isn’t prepared to rush into an agreement.
Hargrove said that even the government’s own studies show that Canada would only break even in a free-trade deal with Korea.
"Why would we enter into an agreement where our own studies show that there’s no advantage?"
He said the solution would be to negotiate an auto pact with South Korea that would require reciprocal access to markets and set levels of Canadian content in cars and trucks sold here.
