China—to trade or not to trade
It doesn’t seem that long ago that the U.S. and Canadian governments were assuring us that free trade would be the answer to everything from economic prosperity to world peace.…
free trade
WhereIn Andrew Coyne MisCharacterizes Re-Shoring
I have always had an on-again/off-again relationship with Mr. Coyne’s writings. When he sits down and thinks an issue through its logical consequences, he can be incredibly insightful and make…
An autopsy or a resuscitation?
An interesting question was raised in the Toronto Star the other day. There was an opinion piece by Bob Hepburn proposing a national commission on the reconstruction of the Canadian…
Mexico Bumps Canada as America’s Largest Trading Partner
Despite all of Donald Trump’s bluster about Mexico and its people, America’s southern neighbour has become its largest trading partner. U.S. census data released last week showed that Mexico’s trade…
Is there life after NAFTA?
Like all sensible folk I was myself opposed to the NAFTA at the outset, convinced that it did more for the corporations than for the rest of us. I’m still…
Imagine a World Where Every Leader Was a Variation of Donald Trump
Donald Trump likes to pretend he’s shaking everything up. In fact he’s tearing everything down and what he can’t tear down his instinct is to bog it down. You could…
Now That You Mention It…
Earlier this month the European Court of Justice issued a ruling that ISDS or Investor-State Dispute provisions in a trade deal between the Netherlands and Slovakia were contrary to European…
Trudeau’s Government is screwing up the Trump Steel Tariff issue
And why is this happening? Because the Canadian government has not done its homework. It has been obvious for more than 18 months that a Trump presidency would pose special…
The problems with progressive free trade and a divided labour movement
…And we’re back to regularly-scheduled programming. Apologies for the podcasting hiatus to (now really faithful) listeners; I hope to be back to regular episodes once again. I’m restarting the show…
Trudeau’s Trade Fetish
One line from Vice news sums it up perfectly, “Justin Trudeau is one of the few world leaders still trumpeting the pre-2016 dream that everything will be hunky dory in…
NAFTA and Labour Rights
I recently spoke at the Standing Committee on International Trade on their study “Priorities of Canadian Stakeholders having an interest in Bilateral and Trilateral trade in North America, between Canada,…
Freeland Admits: U.S. Withdrawal Effectively Kills TPP Trade Deal
This week, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland admitted that the United States’ withdrawal from Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) effectively kills the mega trade deal. The post Freeland Admits: U.S. Withdrawal…
NAFTA: Suddenly, Everything’s on the Table
For years, we’ve been told the dictates of globalization, and the intrusive and prescriptive terms of free trade agreements in particular, are immutable, natural, and unquestionable. (Read more…)When workers were…
Stop Trump copy-cats: Listen to workers
I presented at the Standing Committee on International Trade’s incredibly brief review of the implementing legislation for CETA. With me were representatives from the Business Council of Canada, the Chamber…
So-called "Free Trade" and the Presidential Election. . .
Trade is one of the stranger political issues in recent years. For more than two decades now the left has been saying that the trade deals (even going back before…
So-called "Free Trade" and the Presidential Election. . .
Trade is one of the stranger political issues in recent years. For more than two decades now the left has been saying that the trade deals (even going back before…
The Art Of The Deal: A Guest Post By John B.
In response to yesterday’s post about free trade, John B. provided a detailed commentary that derves a separate posting. Below is what he wrote: Are any Canadians asking? I find…
CETA: The devil is in the details.
Tried the other day to reread the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) and finally gave up in disgust. Maybe this deal between Canada and the European Union is just too…
Free Trade Is Never Free
While it is beginning to look like International Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland’s departure from CETA negotiations was more of a ploy than the end of talks, the hiatus at least…