Cast in Concrete for All Time? The Negotiation of the Auto Pact

Abstract The Canada-United States Automotive Products Trade Agreement of 1965 has been a source of controversy between these two countries, yet has also shown considerable resistance to change. An adequate political understanding of the creation, content and history of the Pact requires an examination of the complexes of issues and goals within which the Canadian and American governments approached its negotiation. These influenced not only what issues were dealt with in the APTA but also how and how successfully. Canada was initially favoured, as is demonstrated by the outcome of the talks. However, the Pact postponed, rather than resolved, the differences between the two governments; subsequent controversies between them over the Pact stem in large part from these unresolved differences.