Neither adapting nor innovating: the limited transformation of Canadian foreign trade policy since 1984

Abstract

ABSTRACTCanada failed to respond with innovative solutions to shifting international economic pressures emerging in the 1970s. Canadian trade policy embraced offensive solutions in areas of comparative advantage but not in sectors with high political and economic costs, thereby limiting opportunities to join emerging supply chains outside of North America and hampering goals of reducing reliance on the American market. International trade disputes resulting from these policies also restricted innovation, as did the structures of Canadian federalism, Canada’s regional political economy, the country’s industrial policy and internal trade regimes, limits on bureaucratic capacity, and pressures from non-governmental interests. Where innovation did exist, it occurred incrementally and asymmetrically across sectors, while usually prioritizing offensive economic interests.