Will US protectionism lead Canada to pull out of NAFTA in favor of the enforcement mechanisms of the WTO? That’s what Mel Clark and David Orchard argue for in A simple solution to U.S. bullying. Their argument is that Canada would actually end up with less US tariffs on its goods in a WTO regulated trade regime than under the current “free trade” regime. If their number of $5 billion in US tariffs on Canadian lumber is correct, I can see their point.
The answer is not to shake our fists or shout meaningless threats at America. The answer is to simply return to the safer, more effective, already existing multilateral WTO framework of which Canada and the U.S. are both still members.