Opinion: If the U.S. doesn’t want to trade, let’s try Britain

With president-elect Donald Trump threatening punitive tariffs of 25 per cent, Canada should look to a reliable, old ally for expanding trade: the United Kingdom.

The U.K. recently became the 12th member of the mega-regional “Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership” (the CPTPP), of which Canada was a founding member in 2018. During an era in which trade multilateralism, via the World Trade Organization, remains troubled, regional and mega-regional groups like this one have the potential to reshape global trade dynamics.

For Canada, in particular, the partnership stands to become more important in light of the Trump tariff threat and the possible trashing and certain re-writing of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which is up for review in 2026. In the event of a full-on tariff war with our southern neighbour, Canada will have to pivot to other trade-friendlier nations, including the U.K. East-west trade will never fully replace Canada-U.S. trade but every little bit will help.

Even before its accession to the trans-Pacific deal, the U.K. was Canada’s fourth-largest trading partner, with goods and services trade valued at $45 billion in 2023. As a source of foreign investment in Canada, the U.K. ranks second only to the U.S., while Canada ranks third as an investor in the U.K.

The U.K.’s bold post-Brexit entry into the CPTPP enlarges the geographical boundaries of what was once considered a purely Pacific-rim agreement. Though China and the U.S. don’t belong to the CPTPP, with the U.K. in it now accounts for almost 15 per cent of global GDP and includes nearly 590 million consumers.

Despite negotiations for the “Canada-U.K. Trade Continuity Act” having broken off last year due to