295. Paper Prepared in the Office of British Commonwealth and Northern European Affairs0
US-CANADIAN JOINT COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND ECONOMIC AFFAIRS
Ottawa, January 5 and 6, 1959
Scope and Objectives
Our objective at this fourth meeting of the Joint Committee will be, as in earlier meetings, to broaden the scope of mutual agreement in the economic field, to give sympathetic airing to differences and resentments on either side, and to instill in the Canadian Ministers, who might otherwise be swayed by the emotions of economic nationalism, a more reasonable attitude in their economic relations with the United States.
This meeting has been called largely at Canadian initiative. Its purpose, as in the past, will be to provide an occasion for the frank discussion of matters affecting the harmonious economic relations of our two countries, particularly those affecting our foreign trade. It will be an opportunity for the participants on either side to gain added insight into each others’ attitudes and points of view, to come to an appreciation of diverse domestic considerations, and to advance our mutual economic objectives. In these meetings the Canadian Ministers sometimes voice the viewpoint not solely of their own Government but of the British Commonwealth as a whole.
This will be the second meeting of its kind for the present Canadian Cabinet Ministers who will have been in office as leaders of the new Conservative Government approximately a year and a half. Since the last meeting in October, 1957,1 the present Conservative Government has gained in experience and in public support. Nevertheless its members have tended at times to behave as if they were still campaigning for public office. It has shown itself assertively nationalistic in its economic relations with the United States and strongly pro-Commonwealth. It has also shown itself increasingly responsive to domestic protectionist sentiment, particularly vis-à-vis trade with the United States, and has evinced something less than due regard for established procedures for prior consultation.
At the same time the present Conservative Government has been harsh in its condemnation of United States restrictive actions in the field [Page 746] of foreign trade. While these restrictions have had an undeniable impact upon Canada, they have not been directed solely at Canadian trade, and they have been carried out after full consultation and with scrupulous intent to minimize their adverse effects upon Canada.
Uppermost in the minds of the Canadian Ministers will be the impact upon Canadian exports of U.S. import restrictions on lead and zinc and oil and of the U.S. proposal to increase the disposal of agricultural surpluses through barter transactions. We, in turn, will want to impress upon the Canadian Ministers the importance of consultations in advance of actions to restrict trade, to express to them our anxiety with respect to the flexibility of the valuation provisions of the amended Canadian Customs Act, and to make known our misgivings as to evidences of protectionist trends in Canadian policy, notably the increased Canadian duties on fruits and vegetables and the drastic restrictions on Canadian imports of turkeys.
In the present atmosphere of radical nationalism in Canada as championed by the Conservative Government, it seems likely that the Canadian Ministers may seek further assurances or concessions from the United States which would be intended to minimize the appearance of United States “interference” with the operations of Canadian subsidiaries of United States firms. We on our side may want to voice our concern over the disturbing number of irresponsible and unfriendly public statements, particularly in the Canadian press, which make increasingly difficult a dispassionate approach to problems in United States-Canadian economic relations.
Apart from the inevitable airing of grievances and the seeking of assurances on sensitive issues, there will be valuable opportunities to reach broad bilateral agreement in areas of growing economic significance. We know, for example, that the Canadian Ministers will want to discuss the trend of European regional economic arrangements and the recent moves toward currency convertibility, particularly as they are likely to affect the trade of the non-OEEC countries. We may expect that there will be occasion for considering a cooperative approach to matters closer to home, such as the development and exchange of energy resources and the disposal of agricultural surpluses.
Canadian Ministers, and the Canadian people, have come to set great store by these Joint Committee meetings as establishing a more intimate understanding and identity of interest between our two governments. The increased understanding and mutual confidence which these meetings produce has indeed proved to be of inestimable assistance in facilitating negotiation and agreement at all levels of official and diplomatic exchange.
- Source: Department of State, Conference Files: Lot 64 D 560, CF 1187. Confidential. Drafted by Martha Schaffner and cleared by Dillon and Merchant.↩
- Documentation on the third meeting of the Joint U.S.-Canadian Committee on Trade and Economic Affairs, held at Washington October 8, 1957, is ibid.: Lot 62 D 181, CF 922–924.↩