The thrust of the new US Administration to cancel longstanding trade agreements or to re-gig them and other trade arrangements dramatically in the US's favour clearly poses many challenges for Canada. However, this forces us to expend greater focus and energy on enhancing our trade links beyond the US (a goal of many Canadian Governments for over 5 decades).

Further, given the pending withdrawal of the US into a protectionist shell, Canada has an opportunity to forge and enhance such non-US links on equitable terms that will be more favorable than those under which US trade with those markets functions.

This is something of a silver lining for Canada given the dark international trade clouds that appear to be forming.  However, to benefit, Canada will have to work hard to build these links and must avoid the temtation to retreat in imitation of the US into an outdated protectionism and issolationism.