Trade and International Policy - Op Eds

It’s now widely agreed that the global trading order has been shattered, led by aggressive actions under U.S. President Donald Trump’s “America First” policy. With national security as the rallying cry, tariffs have been weaponized, starting with U.S. surcharges on steel and aluminum, and extending into other areas.

Governments, including Canada, responded with countermeasures of their own on U.S. goods, as did many other countries. The spectre of U.S. surcharges on autos and auto parts continues to overhang global markets, along with the threat of additional U.S. tariffs on Chinese products beyond those currently hit and the likelihood of Chinese responding in kind.

Compounding these unilateral developments, the World…

Whomever the Prime Minister designates as the minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade will face significant challenges. While that’s nothing out of the ordinary and while some of these challenges may not be too different from ones faced before the election, the person who assumes the portfolio will have to handle Canada’s trade relations with the United States with consummate skill. That’s the new cabinet minister’s No. 1 priority.

Let’s look at a few things that unfolded regarding Canada-U.S. trade relations during Justin Trudeau’s first term as Prime Minister. He was elected in October, 2015, when former U.S. president Barack Obama was still in office. Chrystia Freeland was appointed trade minister, which included…

Canada is not quite alone in the world these days, even if it sometimes seems that way, but the international environment is increasingly unfriendly and even hostile. The ascendency of nationalism and populism around the globe, led by the Trump White House, has shaken the established order. Our all-important relationship with the U.S. has been badly frayed. After a brief sunny period under Barack Obama, Donald Trump’s shambling White House and his transactional approach have shaken the long-held conviction that, though disagreements will always arise, the two countries would remain allied with basically shared ideals. Yet even after the signing of Trump’s new NAFTA, the situation is shaky and unpredictable.

We’ve entered a dark…

Other than Donald Trump, no one likes trade wars. And to Canada’s credit, this country has never advocated that kind of policy, supporting instead the attributes of open markets and the rules of the world trading order created in the early post-Second World War days, staunchly foreswearing protectionism and the unilateral action that the Trump White House relishes.

But like it or not, we’re four-square in a trade war with China. Canadians should wake up to that fact and put aside our typical naïveté in the hope that things can be worked out with patience and good faith. Good faith has to work both ways – and there’s little evidence of that from the Chinese side. This means the Trudeau government needs to take a tough response to…

Economic sanctions are a growing risk factor for Canadian companies engaged in international business, involving traps for the unwary, including, in the most serious cases, criminal charges against senior officers and against the company itself.

Despite these risks and the exposure to criminal penalties, the world of sanctions is not fully understood in many quarters. Here’s a short primer.

To start with the obvious, sanctions are unilateral prohibitions applied by governments to restrict foreign transactions in specific sectors or with individuals that have been identified as corrupt or morally reprehensible. In some cases, sanctions cover both categories.

Sanctions tend to go in one direction, mostly applied by…