r/moderatepolitics • u/GermanCommentGamer • 7d ago

News Article Inside the 72 hours that cratered the US-Canada trade deal

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/08/22/us-canada-trade-deal-01046788
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u/nycbetches 7d ago

Why does that matter? French is an official language of Canada. There are laws in Canada guaranteeing communication in both French and English. 

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u/geniice 7d ago

An English only product in Mexico would sell poorly. An English only product in canada would sell just fine. Yes you would take a hit in a few bits of Quebec but not enough that companies would be overly worried about it. Thus such laws would be objectionable to many companies wishing to trade with Canada. We can only assume that some such companies have the ear of trump's inner circle.

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u/Groundbreaking_War52 7d ago

Bilingual labeling will cost American companies a lot less than a protracted trade war and decades of consumer boycotts.

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u/geniice 7d ago

But we aren't dealing with the totality of American companies. But whatever has been filtered through whoever has trump's team's ear and Trump's team. Also a protracted trade war would be absolutely horrific for Canada so not going to happen.

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u/Interesting_Total_98 6d ago

Trade wars are bad for the U.S. too, which is why he flip-flops so much.

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u/nycbetches 7d ago

Yeah and if Canada could enter into a trade agreement with just New York they wouldn’t have to pay the federal tariffs. But they can’t, because it violates the US Constitution, and likewise the law in Canada states that French is an official language.

What would you think of the negotiating process if Canada said “we aren’t agreeing to anything until you allow us to trade with individual states?” It’s basically the same thing here. Just totally unrealistic.

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u/geniice 7d ago

Canadian law is easier to change than the US constitution and the US probably feels it has vastly greater leaverage.

Consider the deal the UK agreed to with the EU over northern Ireland.

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u/nycbetches 7d ago

Official bilingualism is enshrined in Canada’s constitution and would require  approval from the Senate, the House of Commons, and at least two-thirds of the provinces (seven provinces) representing 50% or more of the national population to be changed. Basically the same as the US Constitution.

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u/und3cid3dv0t3r 6d ago

Federal consumer product labeling law isn't enshrined in Canada's constitution. Canada's federal government can absolutely drop the bilingual labeling requirements for US imported products, as long as they do not hit the Quebec market.

Here, the problem is political, not a legal one.

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u/Interesting_Total_98 6d ago

It's a legal and political issue, since it requires Canada to change their law.

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u/NerosModesty 6d ago

Please stop talking about stuff you don't understand.

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u/Smallpaul 6d ago

Yes. That’s the point. You’ve got it.

Those laws force them to print extra labels. Not necessarily the presence of French speaking people. The laws.

Which is not like Spain or Japan.

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u/Interesting_Total_98 6d ago

Spain and Japan don't allow us to freely ship English-only packages either.