A vintage terminal building at the Port of Vancouver, 2014

Over the past year, the United States has taken steps to restrict Canadian imports. President Trump has threatened to ramp this up with tariffs on vehicles and auto parts.

In response, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has created a Ministry of International Trade Diversification, as if we could suddenly reduce our trade dependence on the US. The fact is that we’ve been trying to do this for decades with no clear pattern of progress. Canada sent 68 per cent of its exports to the U.S. in 2008; that figure was up to 76.3% in 2016. Continue reading →