The United States is “unreliable to the point of hostility” and Canada, in particular, can no longer depend on its neighbour to respect agreements and come to our defence, a new report from top business leaders warns.
“The United States, under President Donald Trump, has become an unreliable partner,” the report from an expert group on Canada-U.S. relations said. “Its longstanding allies can no longer be confident that America will respect its commitments to come to their defence or respect its economic agreements. That is particularly true for Canada.”
The report, from the expert group co-chaired by Perrin Beaty, chief executive of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, and Fen Osler Hampson, professor of International affairs at Carlton University, is excoriating in its criticism of the Trump administration.
It accuses the president of shattering decades of built-up trust and established norms between the two countries on Jan. 20, 2025 — inauguration day — “when annexing Canada became the official policy of the new administration.”
The authors go on to say that Trump has flouted the principles or fairness and the rule of law and write that it is questionable that any new trade deal with the U.S. would be of any value.
“Even if we can negotiate an extension of CUSMA (Canada-United-States-Mexico Agreement) and the withdrawal of tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, what is the worth of Donald Trump’s signature?” they said.
They accuse Trump of a lack of “moral constraint” and argue that any future dealings with the U.S. will be guided by the “whims of one man.”
Trump’s threat are harmful for the all countries, but they are especially bad for Canada, given our proximity with the U.S., the report said.
Read the report here Broken Trust: Managing an Unreliable Ally
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