Prime Minister Stephen Harper chairs a roundtable discussion about auto manufacturing at the Waterfront Hotel in downtown Windsor, May 13, 2015. (Photo by Jason Viau)Prime Minister Stephen Harper chairs a roundtable discussion about auto manufacturing at the Waterfront Hotel in downtown Windsor, May 13, 2015. (Photo by Jason Viau)
Chatham

TPP: 'Best Long-Term Route'

Leading Canadian auto analyst Dennis Desrosiers is confident the Pacific Rim trade pact including Canada will prove to be a benefit to the industry long-term.

The trade deal has become a talking point during the federal election campaign and Desrosiers feels voters realize the value of the agreement.

"They may be upset about some of the disruption these agreements cause, but they realize this is the best long-term route," says Desrosires. "Especially a trading country like Canada."

Desrosiers suspects the industry will "net out slightly negative" in terms of job numbers, but expects the industry may be stronger for it in the long run. However, Desrosiers says the trade deal does nothing to attract investment from Japanese and Korean automakers.

"We weren't going to get them anyway so not getting them doesn't change the game at all, but we could potentially have gotten some of the tier two, tier three business from those plants and if they don't come to North America it might by negative for Canada," says Desrosiers.

The Conservative government has been involved in the Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations during the election campaign and the party promised on Tuesday to extend the Automotive Innovation Fund by a $1-billion over the next ten years if re-elected. The NDP has said it would not be bound by the agreement if it were to form government, while the Liberal party has said it is in favour of trade, but has criticized the Conservative's handling of the deal.

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