Stuart Trew
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Articles by Stuart Trew
The U.S. turns a corner—What does it mean for Canada?
Americans convincingly rejected Trump’s imperious presidential agenda in midterm elections this week. Democrats now control the House of Representatives by an impressive margin and the Senate by at least 10 seats—enough to control the legislative agenda but not necessarily beat Trump’s veto power if and when he decides to flex it. A record number of declared democratic socialists ran in the election, gaining six seats in the House.
Bill C-39 could lead to massive investor lawsuits against Canada
Canadians broadly support the federal government’s plans to “build big things” and diversify exports away from the United States. Unfortunately, the government’s tools for achieving these goals—the deregulatory Building Canada Strong Act (Bill C-39) and a slate of last-generation trade and investment treaties—promise too much and create avoidable future liabilities.
« L’art du deal » de Trump bute sur la résistance du Canada
Les exigences commerciales de Donald Trump face au Canada, qui auraient entraîné la disparition de secteurs entiers de l’économie productive, comme celui de l’automobile, étaient inacceptables pour Ottawa. L’échec des négociations ouvre la voie à une stratégie industrielle démocratique rejetant le libre-échange. Fin août, le Premier ministre canadien, élu l’an dernier grâce à un sursaut anti-Trump, annonçait le rappel de son équipe de négociateurs à Washington.
Trump’s Art of the Bad Deal Comes to Canada
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s decision to withdraw his trade negotiating team from Washington last Friday was surprising and refreshing. Surprising because Carney clearly wanted a deal and has a record of conceding to Donald Trump again and again, to no effect, in hopes of securing one. Refreshing because the deal on offer would have been terrible for Canadian workers. The interests of labor and capital are not the same, and Carney’s position is not the Left’s.
After the failed trade deal with the U.S., what comes next?
The tectonic plates of North American commerce bulged last weekend when Prime Minister Mark Carney walked his negotiating team away from the U.S. trade table and back to Canada. With a deal rumored to be close, the terms of such a deal, as leaked via the media, pointed to a capitulation. The feds appeared to be testing the line that a deal was better than feeling the brunt of new tariffs that were about to be implemented.
Workers need a stronger yellow-card system in CUSMA
Soccer (or football) fever continues to grip North America despite the exit of Canada, Mexico and the United States from World Cup contention this week. Officials in those countries now have no excuse for stalling that other continental battle: the six-year review of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA). The two contests are in most ways poles apart. One is a transparent test of skill and wits, based on rules known in advance and arbitrated by a fair-minded referee, at least in principle.
Most-favoured nation on a hill
A year and a half into his grotesque second presidency, Donald Trump’s uncontrolled demolition of international economic and foreign relations continues apace. To Make America Great Again (MAGA), Trump and crew have sown widespread chaos. Everyone is a potential enemy, including, and perhaps especially, the American people. Trump’s actions can seem bafflingly contradictory. Blockade the Strait of Hormuz after demanding Iran open it.
Opinion | Doug Ford’s sucking up to Washington gets us nowhere
Premier Doug Ford was in Washington, D.C., recently pitching his “Fortress North America” plan to end the year-old U.S.-Canada trade war. The “brochure,” as the premier described it on CNN, is a list of things Ontario and the Americans could do together to create jobs and growth on both sides of the border. As long as the U.S. administration comes to its senses and drops its illegal sectoral tariffs on key Ontario industries like automotive, steel and copper products. And there lies the problem.
Opinion | Doug Ford’s sucking up to Washington gets us nowhere
Premier Doug Ford was in Washington, D.C., recently pitching his “Fortress North America” plan to end the year-old U.S.-Canada trade war. The “brochure,” as the premier described it on CNN, is a list of things Ontario and the Americans could do together to create jobs and growth on both sides of the border. As long as the U.S. administration comes to its senses and drops its illegal sectoral tariffs on key Ontario industries like automotive, steel and copper products. And there lies the problem.
Opinion | Doug Ford’s sucking up to Washington gets us nowhere
Premier Doug Ford was in Washington, D.C., recently pitching his “Fortress North America” plan to end the year-old U.S.-Canada trade war. The “brochure,” as the premier described it on CNN, is a list of things Ontario and the Americans could do together to create jobs and growth on both sides of the border. As long as the U.S. administration comes to its senses and drops its illegal sectoral tariffs on key Ontario industries like automotive, steel and copper products. And there lies the problem.
Winnipeg can (and should) buy local
Previously published in the Winnipeg Free Press June 2, 2026. There is no such thing as a free lunch, but one closer to home probably feels better. For years, local favourite Salisbury House has been the chosen vendor for Winnipeg-owned golf courses. This month the City went against local tastes and chose Aramark, an American-owned company, for the job. When our public entities buy local, they create jobs, provide economic stability and improve responsiveness to the public.
Winnipeg can buy local
There is no such thing as a free lunch, but one closer to home probably feels better. For years, local favourite Salisbury House has been the chosen vendor for Winnipeg-owned golf courses. In late April, news emerged that the City of Winnipeg had gone against local tastes and chosen Aramark, an American-owned company, for the job. When our public entities buy local, they create jobs, provide economic stability and improve responsiveness to the public.
CUSMA review comes into focus
In just over a month, North American governments are expected to decide the future of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA). More likely, they will decide how to decide that future. It’s still not clear to anyone, probably U.S. trade negotiators included, how this first six-year review of CUSMA will play out. Still, some things are clearer today than they were a few months ago.
There are no trade risks to becoming an Apartheid Free Community
On March 18, Brampton city council voted in principle to become an Apartheid Free Community. The pledge—a campaign of the Canadian Boycott, Divest and Sanction coalition—commits the city to “working to end all support to Israel’s apartheid regime, settler colonialism, and military occupation” of the Palestinian Territories.
Trump’s war on Canadian cultural policy
The six-year review of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) formally began on March 17, with bilateral talks between Mexican and U.S. trade officials. It’s not clear when bilateral Canada-U.S. talks will begin, or when Canada may be brought into the Mexican talks as expected. The goal of the negotiations is to agree (or not) to extend CUSMA for a further 16 years, with or without amendments to the agreement.
Do trade deals put public health care up for sale?
In their defining 2004 book on health care privatization and trade agreements, CCPA researchers Jim Grieshaber-Otto and Scott Sinclair warned about the incompatibility of Canada’s public health system with rules establishing globalized “free” markets for health services. “Canada’s medicare system is at odds with the principles of so-called free trade treaties,” they wrote.
To diversify trade, ditch the ideological baggage
Negotiations Canada Photo: Obert Madondo / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 The Hill Times | 23 February 2026 To diversify trade, ditch the ideological baggage BY STUART TREW Stuart Trew is a senior researcher with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives where he directs the Trade and Investment Project. The second presidency of Donald Trump has accelerated the unravelling of the international rules-based trading order.
To diversify trade, ditch the ideological baggage
To diversify trade, ditch the ideological baggage Canada’s trade diversification policy amounts to signing more old school free trade and investment deals as quickly, and with as little debate, as possible. Prime Minister Mark Carney, speaking in January at the World Economic Forum, said the international order is shifting, forcing middle powers to adapt as they face a 'rupture' in global systems. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade
U.S. Supreme Court complicates—but does not end—Trump’s trade war - CCPA
Held: IEEPA does not authorize the President to impose tariffs. With these nine words, the Supreme Court of the United States of America has voided the legal basis for the Trump administration’s so-called reciprocal tariffs on international imports. Only Congress has the power to enact tariffs, the court ruled.
Canada resets relations with China
Prime Minister Carney can be pleased with the results of his first official visit to China. Through a temporary trade truce, and a list of political, economic and cultural MOUs, the federal government has effectively reset relations with China to where they were in 2016, before the arrest of Meng Wanzhou at the request of the first Trump administration.
Countdown to the CUSMA review
There goes the neighbourhood. I’m talking about the Western Hemisphere, America’s “backyard” in the now fully operational Donroe Doctrine. Canada-U.S. relations, a constant preoccupation of public debate in this country, just got even edgier.
Algoma Steel layoffs signal it’s time for Canada to up its game on trade and industrial policy
Algoma Steel’s announcement that it will lay off more than 1,000 workers in Sault Ste Marie is just the latest in a string of bad news from President Trump‘s trade war. Canada needs to respond quickly to Trump‘s attacks on Canadian value-added industries by upping its game in steel and other key sectors. The layoffs, which take effect in March, accelerate Algoma Steel’s transition from traditional blast furnaces to cleaner electric arc furnaces.
Layoffs are another wound inflicted by Donald Trump. But this is how Canada can rebuild its industrial base
Algoma Steel’s announcement that it will lay off more than 1,000 workers in Sault Ste Marie is just the latest in a string of bad news caused by President Trump‘s trade war. What is clear now is that Canada needs to respond quickly to Trump‘s attacks on Canadian value-added industries by upping its game in steel and other key sectors. The layoffs are part of a transition at Algoma Steel from traditional blast furnaces to cleaner electric arc furnaces.
Investment treaties, UNDRIP and the Building Canada Act
“Build big things” has become a mantra of the current federal government. Partly in an effort to lessen our economic vulnerability to U.S. shocks, Prime Minister Mark Carney has been out luring foreign capital to Canada. Like his recent predecessors, the prime minister is pitching Canada as an “energy superpower” open to investment in new oil, gas and mining projects, and the infrastructure needed to get these goods to international markets.
CUSMA 2.no - CCPA
Submission from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives to the Government of Canada consultation on the mandated review of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) welcomes the opportunity to submit revised comments on the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) ahead of a planned six-year review of the treaty.
Canada can’t buy its way out of a bad tariff deal
Commentary By Stuart Trew and Marc Lee Canada must resist striking a bad deal to end U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, even if it means more short-term pain, because surrendering key industries and sovereignty will cost far more in the long run.
Canada can’t buy its way out of a bad tariff deal
Canada must resist striking a bad deal to end U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, even if it means more short-term pain, because surrendering key industries and sovereignty will cost far more in the long run. Canadian concessions to the Trump agenda — including cancelling a multi-billion-dollar digital services tax, introducing worrying border and immigration reforms, and potential participation in a costly continental missile defence scheme — have clearly gone unnoticed in Washington.
Canada can’t buy its way out of a bad tariff deal
Canada must resist striking a bad deal to end U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, even if it means more short-term pain, because surrendering key industries and sovereignty will cost far more in the long run. Canadian concessions to the Trump agenda — including cancelling a multi-billion-dollar digital services tax, introducing worrying border and immigration reforms, and potential participation in a costly continental missile defence scheme — have clearly gone unnoticed in Washington.
Indonesia-Canada CEPA is not the rules-based trade we need
As the Trumpocalypse lays waste to what was left of the rules-based international trading order, countries are under pressure to diversify their trade relationships. In that sense alone, the Canada-Indonesia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), signed in Ottawa this week, could reasonably be called a win for both sides. Prime Minister Mark Carney referred to the deal as “game changing” during the signing ceremony.
Canada can’t buy its way out of a Trump tariff deal
Reading Time: 4 minutes No deal is better than a bad deal. Ottawa must stop chasing tariff relief at the expense of Canadian workers, resources and sovereignty By Marc Lee and Stuart Trew Canada must resist striking a bad deal to end U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, even if it means more short-term pain, because surrendering key industries and sovereignty will cost far more in the long run.
The fall parliamentary session is going to be one to watch
When parliament comes back into session on September 15, the newly elected federal government is going to try to move swiftly to pass its legislative agenda. With a minority parliament, the governing Liberals will need to work with other parties in order to pass legislation—as they have already done with the Conservatives in order to pass legislation removing supposed internal trade barriers in Canada.
Elbows up, or bend the knee?
International political discourse in 2025 has been haunted by the spectre of Donald Trump and his brute force reshaping of global trade relationships to the (perceived) advantage of the United States. Canadians have been consumed by the question of when a deal might be struck to end Trump’s egregious tariffs, real and threatened, and what that deal might cost us.
To stop Gaza genocide, Canada must escalate pressure on Israel
Canadian companies, with the approval of the Canadian government, are supplying military equipment for Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. The proof is incontrovertible. On July 29, 2025, researchers revealed that Canadian companies have shipped hundreds of thousands of bullets to Israel, as well as cartridges, fighter jet components, and more. One shipment alone—from just two months ago, in April 2025—sent 175,000 bullets to Israel.
Removing interprovincial trade barriers could backfire Original
Reading Time: 4 minutes The federal government may be paving the way for a “race to the bottom” that weakens public and environmental protections By Stuart Trew and Marc Lee The Trump administration’s tariff war on the world economy has highlighted a long-standing tension in Canadian federalism: so-called interprovincial trade barriers. Federal and provincial politicians claim these barriers cost the Canadian economy hundreds of billions of dollars in lost activity each year.
The premiers’ new clothes: A critical look at the race to remove interprovincial trade barriers
The Trump administration’s tariff war on the world economy has put wind in the sails of a long-standing issue in Canadian federalism. Under pressure to forcefully respond to Trump’s economic aggression, federal and provincial politicians have leaped onto the stage pronouncing their intentions to remove trade barriers between provinces that allegedly cost the Canadian economy hundreds of billions of dollars in lost activity each year.
Why did Canada just cave to Trump by scrapping the Digital Services Tax?
A lot doesn’t sit right about the Carney government’s capitulation to U.S. president Trump on the stillborn Digital Services Tax (DST), which would have taxed the largely untaxed revenues of tech companies like Google and Meta that operate in the Canadian market. To state the obvious, it looks like the government’s abandonment of the tax, which was supposed to come into effect on Monday, June 30, is the opposite of “elbows up” politics.
Federal “one Canadian economy” legislation is a power grab
On June 6, Prime Minister Mark Carney tabled his much-anticipated “one Canadian economy” legislation that purports to help the government build nation-making projects and tear down internal barriers to trade. He hopes the House of Commons will help him fast track the bill by June 20 or work overtime into the summer recess. As a general rule, we should raise an eyebrow anytime a government uses the threat of an alleged national emergency to grant themselves sweeping new executive powers.
It’s Time for North American Solidarity
Like a spoiled child, Donald Trump has kicked over the sandcastle defending what is left of the rules-based international trading order. As critics of that order, we accept the opportunity and challenge it creates to rethink international relations and mutating neoliberal dogmas. However, we are greatly concerned by the chaos and misfortune that Trump’s actions have caused for workers and farmers across North America. No one chooses to be born in the United States, Mexico, Canada or anywhere else.
North American solidarity needed to navigate Trump’s trade wars
Negotiations USMCA Foreign Policy In Focus | 2 June 2025 North American solidarity needed to navigate Trump’s trade wars By Stuart Trew, Karen Hansen-Kuhn, Manuel Perez-Rocha Like a spoiled child, Donald Trump has kicked over the sandcastle defending what is left of the rules-based international trading order. As critics of that order, we accept the opportunity and challenge it creates to rethink international relations and mutating neoliberal dogmas.
North American Solidarity Needed to Navigate Trump’s Trade Wars
Like a spoiled child, Donald Trump has kicked over the sandcastle defending what is left of the rules-based international trading order. As critics of that order, we accept the opportunity and challenge it creates to rethink international relations and mutating neoliberal dogmas. However, we are greatly concerned by the chaos and misfortune that Trump’s actions have caused for workers and farmers across North America. No one chooses to be born in the United States, Mexico, Canada or anywhere else.
Stuart Trew
Like a spoiled child, Donald Trump has kicked over the sandcastle defending what is left of the rules-based international trading order. As…
Canada’s murky North American future
Mark Carney wisely didn’t promise Canadians a miracle before travelling to Washington this week for a first official meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump. The PM also didn’t say much at all about his intentions, leaving the public and the media to speculate about what might be achieved in such a short visit. Now that it’s over, I don’t think anyone can honestly say we are any clearer on the state or future of Canada-U.S. relations.
Trump’s trade program is sputtering—Canada has an opening - CCPA
The federal election returned another Liberal minority to power under the new leadership of former banker Mark Carney. International media is reporting the result as primarily a referendum on Trump. It probably was for many voters, who will be relieved that MAGA-tinged Pierre Poilievre lost his seat south of Ottawa. U.S. liberals are spinning Carney’s win as proof that standing up to Trump works.
The new Canada-Ecuador trade deal pushes anti-democratic trade policy
Amidst all the chaos brought on by Trump’s tariff threats, Canada’s federal trade minister celebrated a minor win this month: the finalization of a trade agreement with Ecuador. At this point, you might think that any trade deal with the potential to lessen Canada’s dependence on our southern neighbour is a good thing. Unfortunately, this Ecuador deal does not have such powers.
Interprovincial trade barriers are a myth
Reading Time: 4 minutes The federal government’s interprovincial trade push is a political distraction, not a solution Political and business leaders constantly warn of supposed barriers strangling Canada’s east-west trade, claiming it’s easier to do business with foreign countries than within our own borders.
The freakout about Canada’s ‘internal trade barriers’ is a corporate scam
As Donald Trump threatens Canada with an economic war, a new consensus is quickly emerging among the country’s political, business, and media class: we must tear down so-called barriers to trade across provinces. Interprovincial trade barriers, we’re told, “handcuff” the movement of goods, labour, and investment across Canada—so much so that it is supposedly much easier to do business across international borders than inside our own country.
Interprovincial trade won't save Canada from Trump
Since January 20, Canada has been at economic war with its largest trading partner and closest international ally. Though U.S. President Donald Trump has paused his promised 25 per cent tariff on most imports from Canada and Mexico for 30 days, the threat of those tariffs will hang over us for weeks and probably months to come. Trump’s strategy is coercive and probably long-term, aimed more at sucking investment out of Canada and Mexico than addressing the opioid crisis.
Fixation on internal free trade is a distraction from Trump’s economic warfare
Since January 20, Canada has been at economic war with its largest trading partner and closest international ally. Though U.S. President Donald Trump has paused his promised 25 per cent tariff on most imports from Canada and Mexico for 30 days, the threat of those tariffs will hang over us for weeks and probably months to come. Trump’s strategy is coercive and probably long-term, aimed more at sucking investment out of Canada and Mexico than addressing the opioid crisis.
To respond to U.S. tariffs, Canada should hit Trump where it hurts
Canada is on tenterhooks as Donald Trump prepares to be sworn in as 47th President of the United States of America. The main source of anxiety is the near certainty that Trump will impose tariffs on all or some Canadian exports, as soon as inauguration day. It’s possible he will make good on his wild threat, first uttered in late November, of a 25 per cent tariff on all Canadian and Mexican imports.
How bourbon, motorcycles and candy could help Canada in the event of a trade war
Canada is on tenterhooks in these final days before Donald Trump’s swearing-in as 47th President of the United States of America. The main source of anxiety is whether Trump will make good on a promise, made in late November, to impose a 25 per cent tariff on all Canadian and Mexican imports as one of his first acts in office.
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