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Letter to my MP and MPP
Responding to the trade war
Janet Bufton
February 03, 2025
I am a free trader. Adam Smith understood before there were even economists that wider market access and more freedom for producers and consumers make us richer, and being richer increases the effective freedom of ordinary people—freedom from want, freedom from illness, freedom to experiment and be the people we want to be. This is the reason that almost all economists believe in free trade, and their belief is supported by a century of evidence.
Canada responded to the announcement that the United States will impose across the board tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China with promised retaliatory tariffs. I don’t think that anyone knows what, if anything, will motivate Donald Trump to call this insanity off. But I wish they hadn’t started our response with tariffs.
There are other responses available. Trade agreements aren’t only about tariffs. They are about harmonizing legal and regulatory regimes to allow trade to take place. (This is why the UK couldn’t just leave the EU and continue trading with them freely, even if they unilaterally ended all tariffs.)
Most of these harmonizations are fairly benign. But one is pernicious, in my opinion: demands by the United States to bend the world to adopt its restrictive approach to intellectual property. To the extent that these protections are respected in Canada because of trade agreements with the United States, this is a better area than tariffs to abandon our side of the agreement. Abandoning these commitments would free Canadians up rather than costing us more.
In that spirit (and thanks to the legwork of a friend who knows the relevant policy well), I sent the following email to my federal and provincial representatives this morning. I suggest that other Canadians do the same on this or other issues that are important to them. (I’ve seen medical patents suggested. If you do the legwork on another issue, let me know.)
I'm writing to suggest that Canada remove U.S. origin-specific protections secured in trade agreements with the United States.
For example, we could change the Spirit Drinks Trade Act by removing completely the following sections:
- 10 Bourbon whiskey may be sold under that name if it has been manufactured in the United States in accordance with the laws and regulations of the United States governing the manufacture of Bourbon whiskey.
-11 Tennessee whiskey may be sold under that name if it has been manufactured in the United States in accordance with the laws and regulations of the United States governing the manufacture of Tennessee whiskey.
We could replace these sections with the U.S. regulations for naming whiskeys, aside from the location. For example, to be called bourbon it must be sourced by "Fermented mash of not less than 51%, respectively: Corn, Rye, Wheat, Malted Barley, Malted Rye Grain, [Other grain]" with a proof of 160° or less and stored in new charred oak. This ensures that these products will still meet the expectations of consumers.
There are many examples of this since the United States has shaped international intellectual property regimes through trade agreements. Given the way the trade war is playing out right now, it might make sense symbolically to target origin-specific protections on alcohol.
I don't envy the government for having to make these choices, but I would prefer more actions like these to retaliatory tariffs, as these changes would free up Canadians to undertake new types of production rather than costing Canadians more than the Trump tariffs already will.