(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Adults in Canada are divided on whether their country should seek a commerce deal with China if the United States attempts to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), according to a poll by Angus Reid Strategies for the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. 45 per cent of respondents agree with the idea, while 41 per cent disagree.

In addition, 67 per cent of respondents believe the global influence of China and India will equal that of the United States in ten years, and 76 per cent think the biggest issue that Asia faces in the next decade is environmental degradation.

In 1993, NAFTA brought Mexico into the Free Trade Agreement between Canada and the U.S. that had been in place since 1989. The accord eliminated import tariffs on goods circulating among the three countries.

On Apr. 22, Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper discussed the current state of affairs, saying, "I anticipate that Canada will have a very productive relationship with the next (U.S.) administration, because I’m confident that when the facts are looked at, any president, just as any prime minister of Canada, will quickly conclude how critically important NAFTA and our (...) trade relations are to jobs and prosperity on both sides of our border, and in particular, the importance of energy security that is a particularly critical part of the NAFTA arrangement."

Polling Data

Do you agree or disagree with each of the following statements?

Source: Angus Reid Strategies / Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada
Methodology: Online interviews with 2,659 Canadian adults, conducted from Mar. 16 to Mar. 20, 2008. Margin of error is 2.0 per cent.

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