U.S. relations take turn toward normalcy

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 31/01/2021 (1327 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

At first glance, it seemed like anything but an ideal get-acquainted phone call.

The backdrop of the first conversation between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and newly elected U.S. President Joe Biden, after all, included the issuance, immediately upon taking office, of executive orders rescinding approval of the Keystone XL pipeline project and instituting a “Buy American” policy for federal departments and projects.

Both orders directly impact Canadian economic interests. Nonetheless, Mr. Trudeau seemed optimistic about relations with this country’s most important trading partner in what portends to be a more stable post-Trump environment.

“Over the past four years, we faced an American administration that was both unpredictable and extremely protectionist, and we were able every step of the way to stand up for Canadian interests,” the prime minister said last Tuesday. “President Biden has a lot of similar priorities to this government’s, to Canadians’ … and these are things that we’re going to be able to work on closely with our nearest ally and closest friend.”

The news, one presumes, will never always be good when it comes to Canada-U.S. relations. There were numerous disputes, seemingly limitless legal challenges and no shortage of hard feelings during eight years of the Obama administration, in which Mr. Biden served as vice-president. And there have been plenty of challenges and roadblocks faced by every previous prime minister in his relations with every previous American president.

From softwood lumber to aluminum and steel to the dairy sector and beyond, trade arrangements between North America’s two biggest players have forever been marked by charges and counter-charges of protectionism and unfair practices. It’s part of the eternal give-and-take of cross-border commerce in the Canada-U.S. context.

What’s different about the recent transition from dealing with the Trump administration to building relations with the Biden team is the sudden and cold-slap-refreshing reintroduction of normalcy into the conversations and negotiations that will take place between politicians and trade representatives from each country.

Where the era of Donald-Trump-infused U.S. politics and international relations was motivated largely by grievance — both national and personal — and the need for every transaction to have a clear winner (Mr. Trump, America) and loser (everyone/everything else), hope seems to have re-emerged that trade and diplomacy and the pursuit of common interests will once again be guided by common sense, manners and an understanding that an advantage gained by one nation can sometimes be accompanied by a reciprocal positive outcome for another.

These are early days, of course, and the road map for the next four years of Canada-U.S. relations is still very much on the drawing board. But it’s safe to assume there’s little likelihood Mr. Trudeau (or his successor, should Canadian political winds experience an abrupt change in direction) will have cause to be caught on a live microphone at a gathering of world leaders sharing gossip about Mr. Biden’s slumping international reputation, or that the new U.S. president will be reduced to lobbing such petty insults as “two-faced,” “very, very nasty” and “dishonest and weak” at his Canadian counterpart in a moment of bruised-feelings petulance.

Uneasy though they will necessarily sometimes be, relations between Canada and the U.S. seem headed back toward more familiar, friendly and predictably productive tones and execution. The removal of hair-trigger danger from the conversation can only be a good thing, even when the outcomes of particular decisions seem unfavourable on this side of the border.