Canadian and U.S. flags are seen flying near Parliament Hill in Ottawa on March 22, 2023. The Canadian Press/Adrian Wyld
There was free trade between Canada and the United States before there was a country called Canada. In 1854, 13 years before Confederation, the colonies of British North America signed a reciprocity agreement with the Americans that allowed for free trade in lumber, meat, grains, coal, pitch and tar, and other basic goods. This quickly led to an economic boom throughout Canada that lasted until the Americans revoked the deal in 1866.
Since then, trade relations between Canada and the U.S. have been on a merry-go-round alternating between protectionism and openness depending on the political mood in each country. It is an historical legacy that holds many valuable lessons for how Canada should respond to the current Trump tariffs. And perhaps the best source of advice can be found in what historians today call the “Nixon Shocks.”
