COMPREHENSIVE TRADE AGREEMENTS AND

Transcription

1 COMPREHENSIVE TRADE AGREEMENTS AND THE MODERNIZED NAFTA June 14 and 15, 2018 Chicago Bar Association 321, South Plymouth Court, Chicago, IL 60604, US First symposium organized jointly by the Bar of Montreal and the Chicago Bar Association. In forcing the NAFTA parties to renegotiate the Agreement, the Trump administration has also created the opportunity to modernize the 23-year-old NAFTA, to re-evaluate its legacy and to discuss an alternative model. Officials from the U.S., Canada and Mexico have continued their negotiations long enough to take us beyond the first December 2017 target and the later March 2018 target to wrap up their talks. Although come recent optimism in the political sphere has indicated the possibility of an agreement in principle by May 2018, internal sources involved in the negotiations predict that negotiations on critical remaining issues will go on until What issues can we expect will be addressed in the modernized NAFTA and what are the legal implications for our clients? How can we address the uncertainty experienced by our clients in the face of the possible disappearance, or at least substantial amendment, of NAFTA? Aside from NAFTA, other regional trade agreements are becoming increasingly popular and include both Comprehensive and Mega-Regional trade agreements. What new Chapters are being included in those agreements and what additional obligations are being imposed on businesses? The conference will address the new international regimes which our domestic and global economies will have to navigate and will cover questions concerning investments, trade remedies and customs, government procurement, rules of origin, investor/state dispute resolution, labour standards, immigration, environment, intellectual property, digital trade, gender and Indigenous people. 1

2 Preliminary Conference Schedule June 14, :00 a.m. 8:30 a.m. Registration of participants 8:30 a.m. 9:00 a.m. Opening ceremony The Current Status of NAFTA Negotiations Conduct of NAFTA negotiations, political and economic considerations; Is a balance of trade deficit an indication of a bad free trade agreement?; Where are we on the U.S. idea of a mandatory five-year sunset clause? Must we prepare for the elimination of Chapter 11 Investor/State Dispute Resolution and Chapter 19 Dispute Settlement?; Keynote speakers: Dina Smeltz Senior Fellow, Public Opinion and Foreign Policy, The Chicago Council on Global Affairs Additionnal speakers to be announced. 9:00 a.m. 10:30 a.m. Panel 1 Immigration, Labor standards and Environmental trade issues Facilitating greater mobility of workers across NAFTA boundaries, in the face of sentiment wanting just the opposite; Enforcing environmental regulations in an integratged North America: NAFTA and the ability of the Parties to regulate on environmental matters Protecting Canadian/Mexican/U.S. cultures; Chair: Bianca Brault Lampron, LL.M. Lawyer, DSL Avocats (Montreal) Lynn Grayson Partner, Nijman Franzetti LLP (Chicago) John C. Carroll Immigration Consultant, BCF (Montreal) 2

3 Ernesto Velarde Danache President, Ernesto Velarde Danache inc. (Brownsville) 10:30 a.m. 10:45 a.m. Coffee Break 10:45 a.m. 12:15 p.m. Panel 2 21 st century trade issues Bringing NAFTA in line with the reality of business in the 21st century including digital trade, trade in services and IP rights holder; Striking a new balance between encouraging innovation and protecting intellectual property; Topics that are discussed bilaterally in NAFTA but are multilateral, such as intellectual property and other topics that benefit all trading partners; The Trudeau Progressive Trade Agenda and the chapters on Gender and Aboriginals; Mexico s 21 st Century Business Plann; Chair: Shama Patari Lead Counsel for Global Trade Regulations, Lenovo (Chicago) Bernard Colas, LL.D. Partner, Colas Moreira Kazabdjian Zikovsky (Montreal) Hugo Dubovoy, LL.M. Partner and Foreign Legal Consultant on Mexican Law, Baker & McKenzie LLP (Chicago) David Turgeon, Ph.D. Partner, Fasken Martineau DuMoulin (Montreal) 12:15 p.m. 1:45 p.m. Board Luncheon: Judge Thomas R. Mulroy [President of the Chicago Bar Association] and Pascal Côté [President of the International Relations Committee of the Bar of Montreal] 2:00 p.m. 4:00 p.m. Panel 3 Investment Chapter While the European Union is considering the establishment of a multilateral investment court, the legitimacy of in North American Investment Treaty 3

4 Arbitration is at a critical point. This panel will review the existing NAFTA Chapter 11, explore what a modernized investment chapter could look like, and discuss the implications of the removal of foreign investments protections for cross-border investments. Chair: Patrick Goudreau Partner, Municonseil Avocats (Montreal) David A. Gantz Samuel E. Fegtly Professor, Rogers College of Law, The University of Arizona (Tucson) Éric Bédard Lawyer, Woods LLP (Montreal) Patrick Childress Associate, Sidley Austin LLP (Washington D.C.) 5:30 p.m. 7:00 p.m. Architectural Boat Tour 7:30 p.m. 11:00 p.m. Diner June 15, :00 a.m. 9:30 a.m. Registration of participants 9:30 a.m. 11:30 p.m. Panel 4 Trade remedies, Rules of Origin and Government procurement Is it necessary to maintain Chapter 19 panel review of trade remedies? Access to the U.S./Canada market for Canadian/American goods and services; Can we resolve long-standing trade irritants such as softwood lumber, supply management in agriculture, U.S. farm subsidies Buy America, and certain Rules of Origin; NAFTA RoO are over twenty-five years old; Specail cases of auto industry and textiles; Chair: Lawrence M. Friedman Partner, Barnes Richardson Coburn (Chicago) 4

5 Nick Guzman Associate, Drinker Biddle (Chicago) Vincent Routhier Partner, DS Avocats (Montreal) J. Kevin Williams Member Clark Hill (Chicago) Kevin R. Gray Acting Deputy Director, Trade Law Bureau (JLT), Government of Canada (Ottawa) 11:30 a.m. 11:45 a.m. Coffee Break 11:45 p.m. 1:15 p.m. Luncheon Keynote Speaker: the Honourable Peter MacKay [Partner, Baker & McKenzie LLP (Toronto)] 1:15 p.m. 3:00 p.m. Closing Panel 5 General conclusions on CPATPP, CETA, Regional Trade Agreements, WTO (stalling of Appellate Body nominations), the future of international trade agreements and of the rules-based international trading system Chair: Jean-François Hould Quebec Governement Representative in Chicago Peter E. Kirby Partner, Fasken Martineau DuMoulin (Montreal) David A. Gantz Samuel E. Fegtly Professor, Rogers College of Law, The University of Arizona (Tucson) Lawrence M. Friedman Partner, Barnes Richardson Coburn (Chicago) Simon V. Potter, Ad.E. Counsel, McCarthy Tétrault (Montreal) 3:30 p.m. 5:00 p.m. Visit to the Art Institute of Chicago (111, South Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60603, US) 5

6 5:30 p.m. 6:30 p.m. Reception hosted by Baker & McKenzie at their Chicago Office (300, East Randolph Street, Suite 5000, Chicago, IL 60601, US) 7:00 p.m. 11:00 p.m. Closing dinner at the University Club of Chicago (76, East Monroe Street, Chicago, IL 60603, US) 6

7 Major sponsor Co-sponsors 7