A Canada-led clean trade pact would show that middle powers mean business |
Prime Minister Mark Carney has won deserved praise for standing firm against the Trump administration’s threats and imposition of tariffs. But political credit is only as good as the strategy that follows, and Canada now faces a genuine opportunity to do something more ambitious than weather the storm.
Carney’s approach has sparked a broader conversation among the world’s ‘middle powers’ – countries with significant economies like Japan, South Korea, Australia, and the U.K. that share a commitment to rules-based trade but sit outside the U.S.-China superpower axis. These are countries that are actively looking for a different economic path forward, one that doesn’t simply mirror the nationalism coming out of Washington and Beijing.
Canada’s recent trade missions and the signing of memorandums of understanding have been first steps in building that alternative. They make clear the government’s determination to refocus Canada’s trade relationships, alongside new investments designed to reduce Canada’s exposure to its southern neighbour. However, Canada is also focused on aligning the trans-Pacific trade pact and the EU into a ‘middle powers’ trade arrangement rather than leading the development of something new.
Canada’s push for middle powers to align economically must not simply defend or reinforce the old rules. Canada’s new path should be grounded in the future of the global economy, built on clean growth and electrification, and deliver sustainable careers and widely felt prosperity. The perfect place to start would be a new, open, plurilateral clean trade pact with like-minded partners, focused on trade-exposed commodities that factor into nearly all clean technology supply chains – namely, steel and aluminum.
A clean trade pact to secure key supply chains
The foundation of an open, plurilateral clean trade pact is already in place. Many of Canada’s recently signed MOUs prioritize key sectors of the global clean economy: EVs, batteries and broader electricity system technologies. The opportunity now is to begin securing clean........