View Video of Canada’s Review of General Preferential Tariffs & Feminism

Canada is currently undertaking a review of its General Preferential Tariff and the Least Developed Country (LDC) Tariff. At stake is whether Canada will continue to treat exports from female-intensive and growth-promoting industries favorably or not.

Canada’s highest-value industrial imports from developing countries are in many cases apparel. LDCs Bangladesh, Cambodia, and Nepal have benefitted from a growth-promoting zero tariff but could be graduated to non-LDC treatment.

Non-LDCs and non-FTA country exports to Canada are currently treated to a wage–depressing, growth-destroying tariff peak of 17 percent.

The government is asking what should change.

Canada needs to review this issue through the lens of its feminist international trade and development policies to come up with better trade relationships, and better trade programming in female-intensive industries in the developing world.