Facing trade renegotiations, Canada can no longer count on free trade to protect it from U.S. power

There is a ticking time bomb at the heart of the North American economy. And this is the year that it begins to detonate.

Over the past several months, Canadian businesses and analysts have been pressuring the federal government to better prepare for the mandated renegotiation of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) that regulates trade and economic activity among the three North American countries.

Article 34.7 of the pact effectively commits the three countries to undertake a review of the new agreement every six years, in 2026 (the agreement went into force in 2020).

This might not seem ...