Canada eyes Pacific Alliance, seen alongside TPP
Canada eyes Pacific Alliance, seen alongside TPP
In an interview with Canadian weekly Embassy, AS/COA's Vice President Eric Farnsworth comments on Canada's interest in partnering with Latin America's Pacific Alliance trade bloc.
A new Latin American trade bloc has caught the eye of Canada, one that analysts say has the potential to become a "centre of gravity" in the Pacific Rim, and that could eventually hold the country's sustained attention alongside its pursuit of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the South American bloc Mercosur.
The Alianza del Pacifico, or Pacific Alliance, is a recent deal between Colombia, Chile, Peru, and Mexico—the latter three of which are involved with the TPP. A framework agreement for the alliance was formally signed in June 2012 at the group's fourth presidential summit in Chile, and the next meeting is on Aug. 29 in Mexico.
One expert says the group, which has a combined GDP of close to $2 trillion, is gunning for the full freedom of movement of goods, services, capital, and people—integrating everything from police co-operation to certain customs rules, visas, and money markets—and has announced its intention to scrap visas for travel between member countries….
Eric Farnsworth, vice president of the Council of the Americas, agreed that the alliance was "a way to advance further and faster in the Asia Pacific," and was "creating a centre of gravity that is going to be too hard for the US to ignore…."
Mr. Farnsworth cautioned, however, that the combined market is still largely eclipsed by the Chinese, European Union, or US GDPs, and that the group was still in early days. The TPP, as well, collectively accounts for nearly a third of the entire world's GDP, putting it in a league of its own….
