風蕭蕭_Frank
以文會友
Dear friends,
As someone who grew up in Alberta, I’ve always thought of the fall as a time of hope and optimism. It’s harvest season after all – a time of year when Canada’s rich bounty is on full display.
Yet this year I’m concerned. Despite all that our country has to offer, our economy is struggling with rising unemployment and falling GDP per capita.
As MPs return to Parliament next week, my hope is that they focus their efforts on long-term solutions rather than short-term politics.
Because fixing the economy cannot wait.
That’s why earlier this month the Business Council released Engines of Growth. The report provides a roadmap for a new innovation-driven economic strategy – one that focuses on production over consumption with the goal of raising the living standards of all Canadians.
Authored by my colleague Robert Asselin, who is a former economic advisor to two Prime Ministers, the report concludes with 17 concrete recommendations for policymakers.
As Robert notes, progress is a policy choice, and our leaders have the agency to build a forward-looking economy to the benefit of all Canadians.
Read all 17 concrete recommendations.
Yours truly,
Goldy Hyder
President and CEO
Business Council of Canada
保護加拿大人免受不公平貿易行為的侵害
https://www.thebusinesscouncil.ca/publication/protecting-canadians-from-unfair-trade-practices/
Goldy Hyder 2024 年 9 月 20 日
加拿大在世界上的地位公司和公共治理數字經濟和網絡安全行業和創新
致出口促進、國際貿易和經濟發展部長 Mary Ng 議員的信，內容涉及加拿大全球事務部的經濟安全磋商。
尊敬的 Ng 部長：
關於加拿大全球事務部的經濟安全磋商
我很高興與您分享加拿大商業委員會 (BCC) 對貴部門經濟安全磋商的看法。
BCC 感謝有機會參與這次重要的磋商。我們長期以來一直主張加拿大政府與加拿大商界領袖合作，維護加拿大人的經濟安全，而重商主義、經濟脅迫和其他不公平貿易行為日益威脅著加拿大人的經濟安全。
正如我們在 2023 年報告中所言，經濟安全就是國家安全：
加拿大及其盟友遵守一套共同的市場價值觀——例如法治——以確保經濟競爭在公平的環境中進行。
戰略威脅行為者拒絕這些全球公認的規則。他們越來越多地采用重商主義做法，旨在為其國家冠軍企業提供必要的優勢，以國內生產取代進口，攀登全球價值鏈，並在戰略部門占據主導地位的全球市場份額。
掠奪性行為的目錄很長。它遠遠超出了對本土產業的普遍支持，包括操縱當地貨幣，讓其國家龍頭企業在國外市場獲得不公平的價格優勢，要求外國公司將先進技術轉讓給國家龍頭企業，作為進入其市場的先決條件，以及向國家龍頭企業提供大量工業補貼，使它們能夠從事無利可圖的活動，從而消滅外國競爭對手。
這些重商主義幹預意味著加拿大公司不會與典型的商業公司競爭。相反，他們在一個不公平的競爭環境中運營，與外國的全部實力和資源競爭……
這反過來又摧毀了國內產業，讓加拿大別無選擇，隻能依靠國家龍頭企業獲得關鍵的經濟投入。
這種依賴尤其成問題。國家政策和私人追求之間的界限模糊，意味著即使是表麵上的私營企業也常常別無選擇，隻能支持政府的國家安全目標。這包括向情報機構提供支持、援助和合作。
此外，我們警告說：
我們對國際貿易的依賴也使我們變得脆弱。戰略威脅行為者試圖利用加拿大對貿易的依賴來擴大其全球影響力，以向加拿大政府施壓、誘導或影響其采取符合其國家優先事項的行動。
戰略威脅行為者使用各種策略來脅迫加拿大政府。他們可以限製不可替代的關鍵商品的流動，阻止加拿大商品進入國內市場，並對加拿大商品施加繁重的進口檢查和條件。
由於加拿大出口支撐著該國六分之一以上的就業崗位，武器化貿易可能直接威脅加拿大人的生計……
武器化貿易也可能產生更廣泛的社會成本。正如俄羅斯無端入侵烏克蘭向我們的歐洲盟友所強調的那樣，在危機期間，過度依賴戰略威脅行為者來獲取關鍵的經濟投入，尤其是那些價值觀和利益存在係統性分歧的戰略威脅行為者，可能會給社會帶來代價高昂和致命的後果。
加拿大依賴戰略威脅行為者來獲取對加拿大人的安全、保障和繁榮至關重要的各種商品……
為了減輕我們在 2023 年報告中確定的這些和其他嚴重的經濟安全威脅，BCC 敦促政府采取一項新的國家安全戰略，該戰略首次將經濟安全考慮放在核心位置。為了充實這一戰略，我們進一步向政府提出了近 40 項詳細的政策建議。
我們很高興看到政府聽從了我們的建議，宣布將很快發布 20 多年來的第一份國家安全戰略。我們還很高興看到政府采納了我們的許多詳細政策建議，包括修改《加拿大安全情報局法》，授權 CSIS 主動與加拿大私營部門分享威脅情報，以及對《加拿大投資法》的國家安全條款進行現代化，以更好地瞄準和篩選惡意的外國投資。
然而，我們 2023 年報告中的幾項關鍵建議——已經
與貴部門當前磋商直接相關的問題尚未得到解決。我們敦促您重新考慮這些建議。
具體來說，我們建議：
為了減輕重商主義做法的影響，政府應建立新的法律機製，阻止從不公平經濟做法中獲益匪淺的外國商品和服務的進口。政府的最初重點應該是阻止戰略威脅行為者進入關鍵行業，他們正在這些行業使用非法手段趕超加拿大。
為了保障我們繼續獲得關鍵經濟投入，同時加強政府在全球舞台上獨立行動的能力，政府應與易受經濟脅迫的部門合作，加強關鍵供應鏈的深度和彈性。這應包括進行脆弱性審查、共享威脅信息、製定強有力的緩解戰略、抑製對戰略威脅行為者的過度依賴以及增加自由市場替代品的可用性。
為了幫助加拿大公司在開發和商業化新興和顛覆性技術方麵與戰略威脅者公平競爭，政府應通過現代工業戰略補充加拿大公司的經濟和創新能力。更具體地說，政府必須確定和支持對刺激經濟增長至關重要、從國家安全角度具有戰略意義的先進技術，而公司自身尚無法進行開發和商業化此類技術所需的投資。
為了加強基於規則的經濟秩序，政府應與其他誌同道合的盟友合作：
加強以世界貿易組織為核心的多邊貿易體係；
加強或加入促進市場導向國家之間自由和公平貿易和投資的國際框架，例如《全麵與進步跨太平洋夥伴關係》和《印度-太平洋經濟框架》；以及
製定和加強多邊措施，共同阻止、抵製和打擊經濟脅迫和其他不公平貿易行為，例如通過“貿易北約”，盟國同意在受到經濟威脅時相互援助。作為這一舉措的一部分，加拿大應利用其在能源、食品和礦產生產等方麵的經濟優勢，幫助減少我們的盟友對戰略威脅行為者的貿易依賴。
為確保任何新的經濟安全措施都能有效及時地實施，政府應在樞密院辦公室內設立專門的規劃、決策和協調部門，與加拿大企業接觸，並組織、協調和指導政府在眾多具有相互競爭的經濟安全任務和責任的政府部門和機構中的應對措施。
除了這些建議外，我們還注意到，谘詢材料要求利益相關者就可能采取的新措施發表評論，以提高加拿大關鍵礦產項目和相關供應鏈的競爭地位。具體而言，材料表明，政府可能正在考慮為關鍵礦產部門提供額外的激勵措施，以及為應對價格波動和供應鏈多樣化而采取的融資措施。加拿大商會普遍認為需要在這方麵給予更多關注。
盡管如此，加拿大商會認為，通過項目審批和許可改革可以最好地提高加拿大關鍵礦產部門的競爭力。加拿大監管審批和許可程序的不可預測性和不確定性是投資新關鍵礦產開采項目的最大障礙。這既包括礦山的審批，也包括支持其運營和進入國外市場所需的關鍵基礎設施。
雖然這次磋商提出了有關加拿大關鍵礦產供應的重要問題，但我們強烈敦促該部門采取更廣泛的視角，確保將該國包括石油和天然氣在內的多種能源利益納入其工作中。我們的石油和天然氣行業的戰略重要性不容忽視，尤其是在我們的盟友和貿易夥伴希望加拿大在未來幾十年提供安全穩定的能源供應的時候。
最後，谘詢材料強調了遵守國際義務的重要性，包括加拿大各項貿易和投資協定中規定的義務。BCC 同意這必須成為優先事項——尤其是對加拿大而言。
正如我們在 2023 年報告中強調的那樣：
[政府應對經濟安全威脅的方法]必須平衡。雖然它必須有能力應對加拿大麵臨的威脅
保護加拿大的經濟安全不僅要保護國內外的公民，還必須與加拿大的民主價值觀保持一致，並確保國內和國際環境有利於跨境活動，例如貿易和經濟移民，這些活動對我們的國家利益至關重要。
換句話說，保護加拿大的經濟安全不應被用作加拿大政府破壞加拿大人權利、采取保護主義貿易和投資規則或完全脫鉤與某些外國關係的借口。
事實上，如果政府希望外國遵守基於規則的國際經濟秩序，那麽加拿大就有責任履行對貿易夥伴的承諾。
不幸的是，政府采取的措施被我們最親密的貿易夥伴認為違反了我們國際經濟協定的文字和精神。這包括最近政府決定單方麵對外國科技公司征收數字服務稅，這很可能違反加拿大與美國和墨西哥至關重要的貿易協定。
經濟脅迫、重商主義和其他不公平貿易行為對所有加拿大人的經濟繁榮都構成了明顯而現實的威脅。雖然需要政府采取緊急行動，但政府必須確保其采取的措施不會危及加拿大與其最親密的貿易夥伴的關係。作為一個貿易國家，這些夥伴對於保護加拿大人的經濟彈性和繁榮至關重要，並且將繼續如此。
此致，
Goldy Hyder
https://www.thebusinesscouncil.ca/publication/protecting-canadians-from-unfair-trade-practices/
Letter to The Honourable Mary Ng, P.C., M.P., Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development, regarding Global Affairs Canada’s economic security consultation.
Dear Minister Ng:
Re: Global Affairs Canada’s economic security consultation
I am pleased to share with you the Business Council of Canada’s (“BCC”) views on your department’s economic security consultation.
The BCC appreciates the opportunity to participate in this important consultation. We have long advocated for the Government of Canada to work collaboratively with Canada’s business leaders to safeguard Canadians’ economic security, which is increasingly threatened by mercantilism, economic coercion, and other unfair trade practices.
As we asserted in our 2023 report, Economic Security is National Security:
Canada and its allies adhere to a common set of market values – such as the rule of law – that ensure that economic competition takes place on a level playing field.
Strategic threat actors reject these globally recognized rules. They are increasingly adopting mercantilist practices aimed at giving their state champions the advantages necessary to replace imports with domestic production, climb global value chains, and seize dominant global market share in strategic sectors.
The catalogue of predatory practices is lengthy. It extends well beyond generally accepted support for home-grown industries, to include manipulating local currencies to give their state champions an unfair price advantage in foreign markets, requirements for foreign firms to transfer advanced technology to state champions as a prerequisite to access their markets, and the showering of massive industrial subsidies on state champions that allow them to engage in unprofitable activity that wipes out foreign competition.
These mercantilist interventions mean that Canadian firms are not competing with a typical commercial company. Instead, they are operating on a skewed playing field, competing with the full strength and resources of a foreign state…
This, in turn, destroys domestic industries and gives Canada no choice but to rely on state champions for critical economic inputs.
That reliance is especially problematic. The blurred lines between state policy and private pursuits means that even ostensibly private firms often have no choice but to support their government’s national security objectives. This includes providing support, assistance, and cooperation to intelligence agencies.
In addition, we warned:
Our reliance on international trade makes also us vulnerable. Strategic threat actors seek to expand their global influence by weaponizing Canada’s dependence on trade to pressure, induce, or influence the Government of Canada into taking actions that conform with their national priorities.
Strategic threat actors use diverse tactics to coerce the Government of Canada. They can restrict the movement of critical goods for which there are no substitutes, withhold reciprocal access to domestic markets, and subject Canadian goods to onerous import inspections and conditions.
With Canadian exports supporting more than one out of every six jobs in the country, weaponized trade can directly threaten the livelihoods of Canadians…
Weaponized trade may also have broader societal costs. As Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine has highlighted for our European allies, overreliance on a strategic threat actor for critical economic inputs, especially one with systemically divergent values and interests, can prove both costly and deadly for society during a crisis.
Canada is dependent on strategic threat actors for a broad range of commodities vital to Canadians’ safety, security, and prosperity…
To mitigate these and other serious economic security threats identified in our 2023 report, the BCC urged the Government to adopt a new national security strategy, one that for the first time puts economic security considerations at its core. To flesh out this strategy, we further offered the Government nearly 40 detailed policy proposals.
We are pleased to see the Government has followed our advice by announcing that it will soon publish its first national security strategy in over two decades. We are also pleased to see that the Government has adopted many of our detailed policy proposals, including amending the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act to authorize CSIS to proactively share threat intelligence with Canada’s private sector, and modernizing the national security provisions of the Investment Canada Act to better target and screen out malicious foreign investments.
However, several key recommendations from our 2023 report – which have direct relevance to your department’s current consultation – have not yet been addressed. We urge that you reconsider these proposals.
Specifically, we recommend that:
- To blunt the impacts of mercantilist practices, the Government should create new legal mechanisms to block the import of foreign goods and services that have benefitted materially from unfair economic practices. The Government’s initial focus should be on blocking strategic threat actors’ market access to critical industries where they are using illegal means to catch up and surpass Canada.
- To safeguard our continued access to critical economic inputs while strengthening the Government’s capability to act independently on the global stage, the Government should work with sectors vulnerable to economic coercion to strengthen the depth and resilience of critical supply chains. This should include conducting vulnerability reviews, sharing threat information, developing robust mitigation strategies, curbing excessive dependence on strategic threat actors, and increasing availability of free-market alternatives.
- To help Canadian companies compete on a level playing field with strategic threat actors in developing and commercializing emerging and disruptive technologies, the Government should complement the economic and innovative capacity of Canadian companies with a modern industrial strategy. More specifically, the Government must identify and support advanced technologies that are foundational to spurring economic growth, strategic from a national security perspective, and where companies on their own are not yet able to make the investments needed to develop and commercialize such technologies.
- To reinforce the rules-based economic order, the Government, in partnership with other like-minded allies, should:
- Strengthen the multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization at its core;
- Strengthen or join international frameworks promoting free and fair trade and investment among market-oriented countries, such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework; and
- Create and enhance plurilateral measures to collectively deter, withstand, and counter economic coercion and other unfair trade practices, such as through a “NATO for trade” whereby allied nations agree to come to the aid of each other when they are economically threatened. As a part of this initiative, Canada should leverage its economic advantages, such as in the production of energy, food, and minerals, to help reduce our allies’ trade dependencies on strategic threat actors.
- Strengthen the multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization at its core;
- To ensure that any new economic security measures are implemented in an effective and timely manner, the Government should create a dedicated planning, decision-making, and coordination unit within the Privy Council Office to engage Canadian businesses and to organize, coordinate, and direct the Government’s responses across the numerous government departments and agencies with competing economic security mandates and responsibilities.
In addition to these recommendations, we note the consultation materials asked stakeholders to comment on potential new measures to improve the competitive standing of Canadian critical minerals projects and related supply chains. Specifically, the materials suggested that the Government may be contemplating additional incentives for the critical minerals sector as well as financing measures to address price volatility and supply chain diversification. The BCC generally agrees that additional attention is needed in this area.
That said, the BCC believes that the competitiveness of Canada’s critical minerals sector could best be enhanced through project approval and permitting reform. The unpredictability and uncertainty of Canada’s regulatory approval and permitting processes is the single greatest disincentive to invest in new critical minerals mining projects. This extends to both the approvals for mines and the critical infrastructure needed to support their operations and access to foreign markets.
While this consultation asks important questions about Canada’s critical mineral supply, we strongly urge the department to take a broader view to ensure that the country’s diverse energy interests, inclusive of oil and gas, are factored into its work. The strategic importance of our oil and gas sector should not be overlooked, especially at a time when our allies and trading partners are looking to Canada to provide a safe and stable supply of energy in the decades to come.
Lastly, the consultation materials underscore the importance of compliance with international obligations, including those set out in Canada’s various trade and investment agreements. The BCC agrees that this must be a priority – especially for Canada.
As we stressed in our 2023 report:
[The Government’s approach to addressing economic security threats] must be balanced. While it must be capable of tackling the threats facing Canadians at home and abroad, it must also remain consistent with Canada’s democratic values as well as ensure that the domestic and international environment remains conducive to beneficial cross-border activities, such as trade and economic immigration, which are central to our national interests.
In other words, protecting Canada’s economic security should not be used as a veiled excuse for the Government of Canada to undermine Canadians’ rights, adopt protectionist trade and investment rules, or decouple its relations with certain foreign states altogether.
Indeed, if the Government expects foreign states to adhere to the rules-based international economic order, then it is incumbent upon Canada to honour the commitments it has made to its trading partners.
Unfortunately, the Government has taken measures which our closest trading partners believe violate the letter and spirit of our international economic agreements. This includes, most recently, the Government’s decision to unilaterally impose a digital services tax on foreign technology companies which very likely violates Canada’s critically important trade agreement with the United States and Mexico.
Economic coercion, mercantilism, and other unfair trade practices represent a clear and present danger to the economic prosperity of all Canadians. While urgent government action is required, the Government must ensure the measures it takes do not jeopardize Canada’s relations with its closest trading partners. As a trading nation, these partners have, and will remain, essential to protecting Canadians’ economic resiliency and prosperity.
Yours very truly,
Goldy Hyder
c.c.:
Chrystia Freeland, P.C., M.P.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance
Dominic A. LeBlanc, P.C., K.C., M.P.
Minister of Public Safety Canada, Democratic Institutions and Intergovernmental Affairs
François-Philippe Champagne, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry
Mélanie Joly, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Foreign Affairs
