separate set of production facilities in Canada.
Further, the automobile workers in Canada and the United States were, by the 1960s, members of the same international labor union the United Automobile Workers (UAW). The Canadian locals felt that access for Canadian production to the American market would improve their opportunities for work. Pressure, thus, was placed on both the Canadian and the American govern ments by both management and labor in the automobile and auto mobile parts industry in each country.
An agreement was eventually reached between the two coun tries which covered trade between the two countries in
22C. E. Beigie, The Canada U.S. Automotive Agreement: An Evaluation (Toronto: Macmillan of Canada, 1982), 79.
automobiles and automobile parts. The effect of the resulting Pact was to eliminate tariffs and all other duties on auto mobiles and automobile parts produced in one of the two coun tries and shipped to the other. In automobiles and automobile parts, at least, Canada and the United States, as of 1965, had a free trade agreement. As of 1965, thus, the American auto mobile manufacturers were in a position to organize their pro duction in an optimally efficient manner, and, with a booming North American automobile market, the UAW felt confident that the interests of its members would be well served by the Pact.
The Canadian government headed by Lester Pearson had eli cited guarantees from the American automobile manufacturers that (1) no Canadian jobs would be lost, and (2) some new facilities would be sited in Canada, as the industry expanded. The United States government headed by Lyndon Johnson was pre occupied with the war in Viet Nam, and they wanted all of the international cooperation they could get. Further, they were persuaded by the American automobile manufacturers that the Pact would be good for the United States in the long run.
Governors and federal legislators in Michig...