Letters to the Editor Free trade good for Canadian mining

On Oct 4, negotiators for Canada and the United States reached agreement on the substance of a free trade agreement. The agreement still must be approved by the U.S. Congress and by the Parliament of Canada. It will not come into effect until 1989.

The Mining Association of Canada believes the agreement will be good for the Canadian mining industry. It is a fair deal. It has advantages for both countries.

Canada’s mining industry lives by trade and the U.S.A. is our most important market. Canada is the world’s largest exporter of minerals. More than 80% of our production is shipped to world markets, typically generating almost 20% of our country’s export earnings. In 1986, the U.S. alone purchased 71% of our mineral exports. This means that more than half of Canada’s 108,000 mining jobs depend on continued access to the U.S. market for metals and minerals.

The industry and its employees need a world trading system that works. Without secure access to our most important market we cannot survive and prosper in future.

In recent years, Canadian mineral and metals exports have been increasingly disrupted by protectionist “trade actions” launched by U.S. mining interests. Without a free trade agreement the harassment would only become worse.

While the trade agreement does not eliminate all trade actions directed at Canada, it will help our exports by limiting the scope and impact of these complaints in future. It will ensure that trade actions based on narrow political views rather than hard evidence will not succeed. This will safeguard existing jobs in our industry. Also, more secure access to the U.S. market could stimulate investment in new mines and processsing plants in Canada. The bottom line is more jobs, and more secure jobs, in mining

The Mining Association of Canada urges all employees of mining companies to take a hard look at the free trade agreement. We think it will be good for our industry and for the people that are a part of it. If you agree, we hope that you will support the agreement. Walter Curlook, chairman C. George Miller, president The Mining Association of Canada