Canada needs to be prepared for the economic consequences if
decides to leave Canada
–
US
–
Mexico Agreement (
), warned John Weeks, former chief negotiator of the North American Free Trade Agreement (
).
“We're not even sure the United States really wants (CUSMA) to continue,” he said in a statement.
with Financial Post correspondent Larisa Garapin. “We have to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.”
Weeks said the worst-case scenario would be that Canada's 30-year trade relationship with the United States is no longer sustainable.
“The problem here is that we can't really control what the Americans are going to do. We can work with our partners in the United States and hope that they can influence the administration's policies. The policies may change in the coming months as Americans realize that
“It’s not in their interests, but you can’t build the country’s future on hope,” he said. “We have to look at how to act on our own and with other partners.”
In addition to
diversification, Weeks said Canada needs to make major reforms to its economy to make it stronger and encourage foreign investment in resource and infrastructure projects.
“The United States accounts for about 13 percent of world trade, so there's another 87 percent of world trade that could be captured by the World Trade Organization, and we shouldn't lose sight of that as we look to the future,” he said.
Weeks pointed to India as a country with which Canada should try to forge a closer trade partnership.
“This country is now the fifth largest economy in the world and is expected to overtake Germany and Japan in fairly short order. In the coming years, we are taking on a country comparable in strength to China and the United States,” he said.
Weeks said Canadians need to encourage the government to continue to move quickly to reform the domestic economy with its liquefied natural gas, critical mineral and oil projects, as it has been difficult to attract both foreign and domestic investment.
“Many Canadians are investing in other countries,” he said.
However, this does not mean that all projects must be completed. Weeks said there will be a lot of interest in new investments in Canada even in the planning stages.
“If we could overcome these obstacles in a year, that would be quite a remarkable achievement,” he said. “This will send a signal to investors that Canada is truly open for business.”
The official review of CUSMA is expected to begin on July 1, 2026.
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