Published in The Globe and Mail At his news conference following U.S. President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariff announcements on April 3, Prime Minister Mark Carney repeated the point he had been making for weeks: removing internal trade barriers across the country would be part of his government’s strategy to counter the American threats to Canada’s […]
April 4, 2025 – Canada is facing threats to its economic security and territorial integrity from the US. Responding to these threats is job one, but Canada’s next government must not lose sight of the need to strengthen its economy, according to a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute. In “An Economic Strategy for […]
Canada is facing threats, and responding to them is job one. But our next government must not lose sight of the longer-term need to reduce our dependence on the US, raise our prosperity, to defend our sovereignty, and put Canada’s debt on a sustainable path.
Published in The Globe and Mail. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently said that President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariff scheme, due on April 2, will feature country-specific rates. What that means for Canada, like all U.S. trading partners, depends on which real or imagined transgressions Mr. Trump and his officials use to justify their actions. […]
Bill Robson, president and CEO of the C.D. Howe Institute, says federal leaders must protect Canada’s tax system if Trump decides to target Canada’s GST.
April 1, 2025 – Interprovincial trade barriers continue to constrain Canada’s economic potential, and stronger regulatory cooperation is needed to spur growth, according to a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute. In “Eyes on the Prize: A Game Plan to Speed Up Removal of Internal Trade Barriers in Canada,” Ryan Manucha highlights that interprovincial […]
Canada’s governments are party to the Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA), which instituted a novel venue for the resolution of interprovincial trade barriers: the Regulatory Reconciliation and Cooperation Table (RCT). Drawing on cross-country interviews with key experts and players involved in the efforts to reduce internal trade barriers in Canada, this paper proposes a set of recommendations for the RCT process to generate improved results going forward.
To: Tariff watchers From: Simon J. Evenett and Marc-Andreas MuendlerDate: March 28, 2025Re: “These Are Your People:” Canada and Mexico Have Retaliation Options that Shrink US Take-Home Pay Trade conflict is costly to all parties. Canadian and Mexican trade retaliation can deny tariff-related wins for American workers, we show in our new paper, and go so far as […]
From: Stephen Beatty and Daniel Schwanen To: Trade war observers Date: March 27, 2025 Re: Auto Trade with the United States: Back to the Future? Yesterday, Donald Trump announced a 25-percent tariff on all passenger vehicles and light trucks, as well as key automobile parts imported from all countries. Given the integration of the Canadian and US auto industries, […]
Published in The Gazette. Faced with people who constantly threaten others, my father used to say: bien faire et laisser braire, which literally translates as “do a good job and let them bray.” The old British wartime directive “keep calm and carry on,” now so popular, would be the equivalent today. We should heed this […]
In anticipation of the looming tariff threat, exports from Canada to the United States increased at the end of 2024 and early parts of 2025, while imports from the United States remained steady. The result was a widening bilateral trade surplus for Canada.
From: William B.P. RobsonTo: Canadian economic observersDate: March 19, 2025Re: Dollar Weakness is our Best Tariff Defence The Canadian dollar is down about 6 percent against the US dollar since September. The coincidence of its recent ups and downs with the ebb and flow of US President Donald Trump’s tariff threats shows that much of its decline reflects concern about US protectionism. […]
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Published in The Globe and Mail At his news conference following U.S. President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariff announcements on April 3, Prime Minister Mark Carney repeated the point he had been making for weeks: removing internal trade barriers across the country would be part of his government’s strategy to counter the American threats to Canada’s […] 
Canada is facing threats, and responding to them is job one. But our next government must not lose sight of the longer-term need to reduce our dependence on the US, raise our prosperity, to defend our sovereignty, and put Canada’s debt on a sustainable path. 
Published in The Globe and Mail. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently said that President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariff scheme, due on April 2, will feature country-specific rates. What that means for Canada, like all U.S. trading partners, depends on which real or imagined transgressions Mr. Trump and his officials use to justify their actions. […] 
Bill Robson, president and CEO of the C.D. Howe Institute, says federal leaders must protect Canada’s tax system if Trump decides to target Canada’s GST. 
Canada’s governments are party to the Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA), which instituted a novel venue for the resolution of interprovincial trade barriers: the Regulatory Reconciliation and Cooperation Table (RCT). Drawing on cross-country interviews with key experts and players involved in the efforts to reduce internal trade barriers in Canada, this paper proposes a set of recommendations for the RCT process to generate improved results going forward. 
To: Tariff watchers From: Simon J. Evenett and Marc-Andreas MuendlerDate: March 28, 2025Re: “These Are Your People:” Canada and Mexico Have Retaliation Options that Shrink US Take-Home Pay Trade conflict is costly to all parties. Canadian and Mexican trade retaliation can deny tariff-related wins for American workers, we show in our new paper, and go so far as […] 
From: Stephen Beatty and Daniel Schwanen To: Trade war observers Date: March 27, 2025 Re: Auto Trade with the United States: Back to the Future? Yesterday, Donald Trump announced a 25-percent tariff on all passenger vehicles and light trucks, as well as key automobile parts imported from all countries. Given the integration of the Canadian and US auto industries, […] 
Published in The Gazette. Faced with people who constantly threaten others, my father used to say: bien faire et laisser braire, which literally translates as “do a good job and let them bray.” The old British wartime directive “keep calm and carry on,” now so popular, would be the equivalent today. We should heed this […] 
In anticipation of the looming tariff threat, exports from Canada to the United States increased at the end of 2024 and early parts of 2025, while imports from the United States remained steady. The result was a widening bilateral trade surplus for Canada. 
From: William B.P. RobsonTo: Canadian economic observersDate: March 19, 2025Re: Dollar Weakness is our Best Tariff Defence The Canadian dollar is down about 6 percent against the US dollar since September. The coincidence of its recent ups and downs with the ebb and flow of US President Donald Trump’s tariff threats shows that much of its decline reflects concern about US protectionism. […]