The Growing Imperative to Create a More Integrated Internal Economy in Canada is the latest installment in the Institute's series on federal policy reforms. It argues that Canada's trade relationship with the U.S. will likely face future challenges no matter who wins the U.S. presidential election, since both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris have signaled they'll pursue protectionist trade policies. As such, governments across Canada should work to eliminate existing barriers to interprovincial trade and labour mobility in order to counteract any diminished trade with the U.S.
The Growing Imperative for Internal Free Trade in Canada finds that the federal government should encourage the provinces to liberalize trade within Canada, especially given growing trade protectionism in the United States.
Canada’s Indo-Pacific Trade Strategy and Trade Diversification finds that the federal government’s new trade strategy (IPS), meant to encourage increased Canadian exports to Indo-Pacific countries such as India and China through subsidies and other preferential treatments, unwisely shifts attention from Canada’s largest trading partner and key source of prosperity.
The United States-Mexico-Canada-Agreement: Overview and Outlook finds that the new trade deal to replace NAFTA represents a missed opportunity to create freer trade across North America. Not only does the new agreement leave intact protections in many sectors—to the detriment of Canadians—but when it comes to the North American auto sector, the USMCA introduces much more managed trade, even imposing limits on how many automobiles (and auto parts) Canada and Mexico will send into the United States.
