NAFTA Chapter 19 Revisited: Red Line or Bargaining Chip?

Abstract

Establishing disciplines on the US trade remedy measures was in the view of Canadian policymakers the single most important demand that Canada tabled in the free trade negotiations with the United States leading up to the 1989 Canada-US FTA. The outcome was the Chapter 19 mechanism for binational panel review of anti-dumping and countervailing duty measures. The Chapter 19 measure was carried over into the North American Free Trade Agreement and extended to cover Mexico. The Trump Administration has indicated it is unwilling to continue this mechanism in a renegotiated NAFTA. This note assesses the current value of Chapter 19 for Canada in the context of a renegotiation of the NAFTA with the Trump Administration.

Keywords: NAFTA, CUSFTA, Chapter 19, binational panels, dispute settlement, anti-dumping, countervailing duties, trade remedies

JEL Classification: F13