A Trading Nation: Canadian Trade Policy from Colonialism to Globalization
University of British Columbia Press
2002
556 pp.
0774808942
$85.00
By global standards, Canada is a large economy. But it is small relative to the United States and tends to be ignored or taken for granted by most Americans. Hart, a Canadian trade official turned academic, should help to correct that misperception with his impressive and comprehensive history of Canada's trade policy, covering more than 300 years from early settlement to the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Uruguay Round. Many issues here involve trade with the United States, but from a Canadian perspective. Canada's dilemma has been to juggle its multilateral instincts and mild distrust of the United States with its overwhelming interest in the American economy. The book usefully portrays the complex balancing act of Canadian politicians over the years among nationalism, bilateral interests in the U.S. market, and multilateralism. The emphasis is on the broad sweep rather than the details of trade disputes, of which there were many.
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