{"id":265069,"date":"2017-04-28T10:31:24","date_gmt":"2017-04-28T14:31:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/issues\/wilbur-ross-butcher-or-baker\/"},"modified":"2025-10-07T21:35:24","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T01:35:24","slug":"wilbur-ross-butcher-or-baker","status":"publish","type":"issues","link":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2017\/04\/wilbur-ross-butcher-or-baker\/","title":{"rendered":"Wilbur Ross, butcher or Baker?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In his 2007 book Think Big<\/em>, Donald Trump argued that in tough negotiations the United States government should rely on professionals from the private sector. Noting great deal makers are rare, \u201clike gifted doctors and scientists,\u201d he suggested America could solve a lot of its problems if it used its best negotiators.<\/p>\n

Ten years later, and true to these beliefs, President Donald Trump has recruited an impressive array of private sector negotiators to his new administration. They include Wilbur Ross, whom Trump called<\/a> \u201cone of the greatest negotiators I have ever met \u2014 and that comes from me, the author of The Art of the Deal<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not surprisingly, the President has confirmed that Ross will help represent the US in the NAFTA renegotiations in his capacity as commerce secretary. (Ross has not disputed the idea that he will play a leading part, though he is always careful to note the statutory role of the US trade representative.)<\/p>\n

With that in mind, and as Canadian officials begin to prepare for the NAFTA talks, among the important and unanswered questions is this one: What kind of negotiator will Ross be \u2014 a \u201cbutcher\u201d or a \u201cBaker\u201d?<\/p>\n

The image of Secretary Ross as a \u201cbutcher\u201d has gained traction in recent weeks as he has outlined the Trump administration\u2019s views on the future of NAFTA. In various public comments, Ross has appeared open to cleaving off parts of NAFTA, including its procurement and dispute resolution provisions. Ross has also said<\/a> he wants to carve out other concessions from Canada: \u201cThe only question is what\u2019s the magnitude, and what\u2019s the form of the concessions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet if Canada approaches Secretary Ross as if he were a butcher, we risk cutting the heart out of NAFTA \u2014 an agreement that provides bilateral economic prosperity. The better alternative is to engage Ross as if he were a \u201cBaker\u201d \u2014 not the kind who makes bread, but rather the incomparable James A. Baker III.<\/p>\n

According to such first-hand witnesses as former prime minister Brian Mulroney and former ambassadors Derek Burney and Gordon Ritchie, Baker played a key role during the original Canada-US free trade talks in the late 1980s. As treasury secretary and a former White House chief of staff to President Ronald Reagan, Baker was uniquely positioned to finalize the deal and finesse it through Congress.<\/p>\n

Ritchie, Canada\u2019s deputy chief negotiator for the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA), wrote in his 1997 memoirs, Wrestling with the Elephant<\/em>, that Baker had the essential qualities needed to conclude a trade deal.<\/p>\n

First, Baker\u2019s relationship with the President made him a \u201cpower centre\u201d who was known to be speaking with the authority of the Reagan White House. Second, Baker was a \u201cconsummately skillful strategist\u201d who, in Ritchie\u2019s words, \u201cachieved the seemingly impossible on more than one occasion.\u201d Finally, in Baker, Canada was at last \u201ctalking to someone who actually had a mandate to negotiate and the ability to deliver on his commitments.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his autobiography, Work Hard, Study…and Keep Out of Politics<\/em> (2006), Baker credits his success in the talks to his careful gauging of opinions in Congress and to \u201ccultivating bipartisan support from friends of free trade on Capitol Hill.\u201d Believing \u201csuccessful negotiation requires a sense of political limits,\u201d Baker wrote that he also had to \u201ceducate myself on the political constraints faced by the Canadians.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilbur Ross shares many of the assets and attributes that Jim Baker possessed during the original FTA negotiations, including a direct line to the Oval Office. Fortuitously, Ross also has a solid relationship with Brian Mulroney, who recently briefed Prime Minister Trudeau\u2019s cabinet on Canada-US relations. While Ross may not have Baker\u2019s strong political contacts in Congress, his Senate confirmation did pass with bipartisan support, including the votes of 21 Democrats.<\/p>\n

All this is to say that Wilbur Ross has the ability to approach the NAFTA renegotiations as either a butcher or a Baker \u2014 a deal breaker or a deal maker. Canada should have a clear preference. To that end, much may depend on how we seek to work with Ross as the talks get under way.<\/p>\n

Of course, without clear signals from the Secretary as to which direction he\u2019ll take, Canadians are left to read the proverbial tea leaves and seize on any small signs of hope. When even benign signals can be reassuring, one might even take solace in otherwise trivial things such as who US Vice-President Mike Pence sat with at the Super Bowl. It was Jim Baker.<\/p>\n

Photo: Canadian Press Image. President-elect Donald Trump and Wilbur Ross. AP Photo\/Carolyn Kaster.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Do you have something to say about the article you just read? Be part of the\u00a0Policy Options\u00a0discussion, and send in your own submission. Here is a\u00a0link<\/a>\u00a0on how to do it. |\u00a0Souhaitez-vous r\u00e9agir \u00e0 cet article ?\u00a0Joignez-vous aux d\u00e9bats d\u2019Options politiques\u00a0et soumettez-nous votre texte en suivant ces\u00a0directives<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In his 2007 book Think Big, Donald Trump argued that in tough negotiations the United States government should rely on professionals from the private sector. Noting great deal makers are rare, \u201clike gifted doctors and scientists,\u201d he suggested America could solve a lot of its problems if it used its best negotiators. Ten years later, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":253181,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"2025-10-08T01:35:27Z","apple_news_api_id":"15d1584f-05c6-4d0f-bf26-a2c7debb6d09","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2025-10-08T01:35:27Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AFdFYTwXGTQ-_JqLH3rttCQ","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[9360,9358,9372],"tags":[8407],"article-status":[],"irpp-category":[4217,4245,4295],"section":[],"irpp-tag":[7183],"class_list":["post-265069","issues","type-issues","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","category-politique","category-recent-stories-fr","tag-trade-fr","irpp-category-affaires-internationales","irpp-category-economie","irpp-category-politique","irpp-tag-commerce"],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nWilbur Ross, butcher or Baker?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2017\/04\/wilbur-ross-butcher-or-baker\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"fr_FR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Wilbur Ross, butcher or Baker?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In his 2007 book Think Big, Donald Trump argued that in tough negotiations the United States government should rely on professionals from the private sector. 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