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As Canada and the world adjust to the second American presidency of Donald J. Trump, beginning with his threats of a tariff-based trade war, Policy will be posting regular insight pieces from individual members of the Expert Group on Canada-US Relations, sharing their individual perspectives and expertise. The Expert Group is a foreign policy initiative jointly sponsored by Carleton University’s Norman Paterson School of International Affairs and the Canadian Global Affairs Institute.

With many thanks to Expert Group co-chairs and Policy contributors Perrin Beatty and Fen Osler Hampson, welcome to our Policy Special Series: The Expert Group on Canada-US Relations on Navigating Trump II:

We open with the Expert Group’s widely cited January 1, 2025 call to action, A Canada-First Repsonse to Donald Trump. “Our country faces the most serious threat to its sovereignty and economic prosperity since the Second World War,” the statement warns. “Canada needs to take the initiative and generate bold ideas that will benefit both countries’ economic security and prosperity.”

Longtime Policy contributor and Expert Group member Thomas d’Aquino brings his decades-long immersion, as founding CEO of the Business Council of Canada, in the deeply enmeshed business community on both sides of the border, to Canada’s Carpe Diem Moment. “I believe Canadians owe Trump a vote of thanks,” writes Mr. d’Aquino. “For far too long, Canada, with our massive geography and rich natural endowments, has wallowed in complacency.”

From Expert Group Chairs Perrin Beatty, former President and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, and Fen Osler Hampson, Chancellor’s Professor and Professor of International Affairs at Carleton University, a look at the principles by which canada’s response should be governed. “The first principle is to ‘do no harm’ to Canadian producers by compounding the pain with export duties and embargoes,” they write. “Let American consumers of our exports howl, as they surely will, when they see what Trump is doing to their pocketbooks.” Here are Perrin Beatty and Fen Hampson with The Opportunity for Canada in Trump’s Tariff Crisis.

From NAFTA negotiatior and Policy contributor John Weekes, an overview of the unprecedented elements at play in Trump’s latest weaponization of tariffs, and what can be done to minimize its consequences. “Canada needs to look urgently at other ways of strengthening Canadian economic prospects,” writes Mr. Weekes, “to restore confidence in Canada, and to rekindle investment.” Here’s John Weekes with his recommendations in, Charting Canada’s Economic Course in the Face of Trump’s Threats.

Former career diplomat and Policy contributor Colin Robertson sees Canada’s diplomatic dilemma in part as a matter of the premiers rising to the occasion as political leadership at the federal level is resolved. “Answering existential questions such as ‘How best do we defend our sovereignty?’ and ‘How do we diversify our trade?'”, writes Mr. Robertson, “should be core considerations in the Liberal leadership campaign and for all parties in the coming election.” Here’s Colin Robertson with Trump 2.0, Week 2: Premiers Matter, Diversify or Die, and Liberalization Begins at Home.

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