Asia-Pacific Report: Free-trade deals can have unintended consequences

For Canadians, one of the most controversial aspects of the newly minted Trans-Pacific Partnership is undoubtedly its impact on the auto industry. The response from autoworkers’ union Unifor was swift. A statement from national president Jerry Dias came within hours of the announcement of the TPP agreement two weeks ago, and put the phasing-out of Canada’s 6.1-per-cent auto-import tariff at the centre of a potential loss of 20,000 jobs.