By Ana Pereira | The Toronto Star
When U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to launch a full-blown trade war with its closest ally, many Canadians felt as if their best friend had suddenly turned around and stabbed them in the back.
Trump’s string of accusations, along with increasingly hostile suggestions that the U.S. annex Canada as “the 51st state,” have led many to pledge boycotts of American products. The majority of Canadians now support calling on the government to reduce our reliance on the U.S. as a trading partner, according to a recent poll by the Angus Reid Institute of more than 1,800 adults.
Patriotism aside, there are solid economic reasons why Canada might want to consider reducing trade with America, according to economists. Trump’s threats have introduced a major source of uncertainty in a decades-old trade partnership that saw Canada give up some of its independence in exchange for economic prosperity and stability.
It’s a relationship that has benefitted both economies, with nearly 80 per cent of Canadian exports currently ending up south of the border, but it was built on trust, and trade experts say that trust is now gone.
Is achieving a greater degree of economic independence from the U.S. really possible? Can we really undo decades of integration without seeing our economy crumble?
The Star spoke with economists, academics and other experts, including SCP CEO Matthew Mendelsohn, about how the country should best navigate this new era of Trump’s isolationism, and found there are realistic steps we can take to reduce our dependence on the States.

Share with a friend
Related reading
New Canadian Tax Observatory seeks visionary founding CEO
Social Capital Partners and other funders announce a new, non-partisan, nonprofit Canadian organization to lead an informed national conversation on the links between taxation, economic fairness and a thriving democracy. The Canadian Tax Observatory is seeking a visionary leader who can shape and grow a permanent, influential Canadian institution connected to global networks identifying better, more effective ways to achieve tax fairness.
A new middle-power alliance would give Canada leverage and Canadians hope
Canada should lead the world’s middle powers in a collective and overdue weaning from American primacy by establishing a grand new security and economic alliance. As SCP Chair Jon Shell argues in The Hill Times, ten countries including Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, the U.K., Spain, Japan, South Korea and the Netherlands, or the “Core 10," would amount to about the same GDP as the U.S., with significant natural resources, massive buying power - and significant leverage against American economic aggression.
The tariff war means a new normal for Hamilton businesses | Hamilton City Magazine
The wrecking ball that Donald Trump has taken to international trade has wounded relations between Hamilton businesses and their American suppliers and customers, reports Eugene Ellman in Hamilton City Magazine. Now, they’re looking east and west to replace traditional links to the south and pushing back. When Trump started pontificating about how Canada should become the 51st state and claiming the United States was subsidizing its northern neighbour, SCP Founder Bill Young and the team responded with Always Canada. Never 51 - part economic populism mixed with methodical policy-making, the series is devoted to the issues of wealth inequality and Canadian sovereignty.