Great Lakes Trade Agreement

Written by Jacob Sullivan Edited by Zach Batson

The Great Lakes Trade Agreement was a decision reached between The New French Republic and The United States of America in 1930 as to how to manage French colonial companies in the post-revolutionary French-Canadian colony. Due to the remarkably close diplomatic and social connections between France and the United States, there were many American companies with facilities in Canada, along with French companies set up in the States. These foreign companies were not a problem up until the Revolution, as France and the United States had similar business practices, and trade was relatively free between the two nations, with an open border policy between them.

With the new constitution implemented in France, and the new radical socialist party in power, the interests of Canadian and American businessmen came into question. The new government began implementing laws in favor of strict unionization in many business sectors of their economies. As a result of these laws, the operations of these colonial enterprises came into question. While unionization laws were being discussed in parliament, US business interests began threatening to pull out of Canada in response to the workplace requirements the new law would impose. In an effort to not lose industry, corporate representatives from both Canada and the United States went to Paris to present a proposal to Parliament in order to alleviate the pressure on colonial business.

The lobbying campaign ultimately resulted in the Great Lakes Trade Agreement, which was passed in 1930. The new law exempted colonial provinces from the new worker rights laws passed by the French government. The result was a mass migration of industry out of France and into their colonial possessions to avoid the new laws. These fleeing businesses seriously hurt the French economy, and created unfair and unsafe working conditions for people working overseas. The pressures this policy created seriously contributed to the tensions among the working class leading up to the Grand Revolution of 1938.