Canada and Peru Get Down to Business

David Schreiner
August 5, 2009

Prime Minister Harper and President Alan García. (AP Photo)

Canada further expanded its trade relations with Latin America this week as its trade pact with Peru came into effect. The Canada-Peru Free Trade Agreement (FTA) eliminates tariffs on more than 95 percent of goods and eases Canadian access to several sectors of Peru’s economy. Canadian International Trade Minister Stockwell Day said “this free trade agreement with Peru will provide…opportunities with one of the most dynamic economies in the Latin America.” The accord is just one of many trade pacts that Canada has in the works with Latin America.

Peru’s economic resilience and openness to foreign direct investment make trade expansion attractive to Canada, which conducted more than $2.8 billion in two-way trade with the Andean country in 2008. The Peruvian economy grew by more than 9 percent in 2008. Lima’s stock market was the world’s strongest in the first half of 2009 and, in the face of a global economic downturn, Peru “outperformed its larger, richer neighbors to the north,” writes Slate’s Moneybox columnist Daniel Gross. The Economist described the country as poor and export-dependent, but “recession proof.” In recent years, Lima negotiated free trade accords with several countries, including Singapore, Japan, Thailand, and the United States.

Canada has actively sought stronger trade ties in the Andes, paying special attention to Peru and Colombia, which “have aggressive bilateral trade liberalization agendas.” In March 2009 the Canadian House of Commons began approval proceedings of an FTA with Colombia. and Colombian President Álvaro Uribe visited Canada in June to urge the pact's approval. In an article for AS/COA, Canadian Senator Pamela Wallin wrote: “Colombia is seeking to strengthen its democracy…Free trade is the best way to accomplish this goal.” Canada now has trade agreements with Costa Rica, Chile, Colombia, and Peru, and pending agreements with Panama, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua.

But some point out that Canada’s deepening integration in the Western Hemisphere comes with responsibility. An article in Canada’s Embassy said Lima’s willingness to break environmental, indigenous, and international agreements to make the Amazon available to foreign companies “should be of grave concern for the Canadian government.” The article pointed to June unrest in Peru’s Amazon region over indigenous land rights. The conflict stemmed from a set of laws enacted through presidential decree that opened portions of the Amazon to development and investment.

Learn more:

• Presentation about Amazonian unrest by Peru’s Ambassador to U.S. at an AS/COA program.
• Canadian Minister of Finance at an AS/COA event in Santiago de Chile.
• AS/COA coverage of Colombian President Álvaro Uribe’s visit to Ottawa by Canadian Senator Pamela Wallin.
• Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Commerce and Tourism page on the FTA with Canada.
• Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade page on pacts with Andean countries.

Send questions and comments for the editor to: ascoa.online@as-coa.org.

See more in:  Canada, Peru, Colombia, Trade & NAFTA, Economics & Finance