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ARTICLE · 11 FEBRUARY 2025

Canada Takes On Internal Trade Barriers

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President Trump's proposed tariffs—now paused for 30 days—have provoked discussion in Canada on other ways to spur economic growth.

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Torys' Canadian and New York offices will be providing regular briefs on the legal ramifications of the tariffs and other cross-border policy developments on the horizon.

President Trump's proposed tariffs—now paused for 30 days—have provoked discussion in Canada on other ways to spur economic growth. One potential area that has often been raised but lacked sufficient action is reducing barriers to domestic interprovincial trade. An International Monetary Fund paper estimates that complete liberalization of internal trade in goods may increase Canada's GDP by 4%1. Another estimate indicates that these non-tariff barriers act as a 6.9% "tariff" on goods traded across Canada2. The federal government has announced its commitment to working to eliminate barriers to interprovincial trade.

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