Canada should push for early renegotiation of USMCA: expert

Article content

The free-trade deal is scheduled for review in 2026, but United States President Donald Trump is using tariff threats on goods from Canada and Mexico to pressure the two countries to start earlier, the Wall Street Journal reported last week.

Article content

“This is a gift from the gods,” Ian Lee, an associate professor at Carleton University’s Sprott School of Business, said in a recent interview with the Financial Post’s Larysa Harapyn. “We cannot wait to be slaughtered by these tariffs, which will be destructive beyond all imagination to our economy.”

Lee said Canadian governments should seize the opportunity to appeal to the U.S. president and come up with a new deal that involves the removal of all tariffs.

“He sees himself as a dealmaker,” he said. “Start talking to the Americans instead of threatening them.”

Lee said Canada’s response to Trump’s tariff threats so far has been disappointing because politicians have been focused on the wrong issues.

“They see this as some kind of a macho-man contest of who can show how tough they are to punch Donald Trump and his administration in the face,” he said. “The idea that we can take on and actually win or hold the U.S. to a standstill is truly beyond delusional.”

Lee said part of the problem is that Trump’s economic advisers — Stephen Miran, Howard Lutnick and Scott Bessent — are more qualified than anyone in Canada.

“It’s embarrassing that our cabinet, federally and provincially, simply does not have that depth of knowledge or experience that those three key financial economic secretaries possess,” he said.

• Email: novid@postmedia.com

Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don’t miss the business news you need to know — add financialpost.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here.

Share this article in your social network