This brief examines the framing of the proposed reforms to the Investment Canada Act in the context of the digital transformation and the evolving nature of the contemporary innovation-intensive economy. It argues that the Act must go beyond considerations of the size of firms in triggering...

The entry into force of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership will mark the end of a long and winding road for Canada in committing to an Asia Pacific trade strategy, marked by a number of significant shifts in the calculus of costs and benefits. This note...

The Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), as amended by the Protocol of Amendment signed December 10, 2019, represents a major overhaul of the now-dated 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). However, it is unusual in that it has little traditional tariff liberalization,...

Canada's trade diversification drive confronts daunting challenges given that economic geography places it deep in the gravity well of the United States while its main diversification opportunities require partnership with the US' chief geostrategic rival, China. In this note, I sketch out how...

China appears to have been surprised by the sharp escalation of its rivalry with the United States into a full-blown trade war – and also to have initially mis-read the situation as one it could dispose of by writing a cheque before getting on with business as usual. I argue that there are...

Canada is developing a progressive trade agenda (PTA) that is pitched as a response to the rise of anti-globalization populism. This note reviews the concept of the PTA, its motivation, the specific elements that comprise it, the likely efficacy of these measures in addressing the factors...