A promising approach to the standard model flavor puzzle is based on the idea that the $\mathrm{SU}(3{)}^{3}$ quark-flavor symmetry is spontaneously broken by vacuum expectation values of ``Yukawa fields'' which minimize the symmetry invariant scalar potential at configurations corresponding to the observed quark masses and mixing angles. We show that this approach provides a simple and elegant explanation for $CP$ conservation in strong interactions.