How a trade war was averted — for now — and what happens next

Canadians breathed a sigh of relief late Monday when U.S. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced an agreement to pause threatened tariffs that would have had a huge impact on the Canadian economy. The pause is for 30 days, during which time Canada and the U.S. will discuss other economic issues between the two countries. 

 Scotiabank Chief Economist Jean-François Perrault joins us to discuss the latest developments in the potential trade war, the impact tariffs could have on Canadians, and what policy changes Canada could consider to make itself less vulnerable to these kinds of actions in future. 

For legal disclosures, please visit http://bit.ly/socialdisclaim and www.gbm.scotiabank.com/disclosures 

Key moments this episode: 

1:22 – JF catches us up on what has happened with tariffs over the last 24 hours 

3:49 – What economic issues might come up in further Canada/U.S. tariff negotiations? 

5:57 – With the tariffs only delayed, what is the ongoing impact for the Canadian economy? 

9:07 – Can (or should) Canada be ‘tariff-proofed’ moving forward? 

11:13 – How this latest tariff news might affect the outlook on Canada’s economic growth and future Bank of Canada rate cuts 

13:51 – What might happen next? 

15:20 – The key takeaways for Canadians