Mark Carney

As trade negotiations with the United States sputtered over the summer, Prime Minister Mark Carney started talking about a new, domestically oriented solution for Canada’s tariff-battered industries. …On the surface, this looks like a suite of emergency measures to help companies bridge a temporary loss of demand similar to those announced as the COVID-19 pandemic spread. Taken together, however, it represents a more fundamental shift in Canada’s political economy. If key Canadian industries can’t sell into the US market, the argument goes, perhaps the government can cultivate domestic markets to pick up the slack. …In effect, US President Trump’s America First economic vision is pushing Canada to follow suit. …And it unveiled a new “Buy Canadian” procurement policy for steel and lumber. …Derek Nighbor, of the Forest Products Association of Canada, said there’s an incremental opportunity to sell more lumber in Canada. [to access the full story a Globe & Mail subscription is required]