The United States is pursuing a trade policy that combines stricter rules-of-origin requirements with external tariff coordination, a dual approach that risks creating duplicative barriers for North American commerce.
This strategy, described as part of a 'Fortress North America' framework, places the burden of compliance and cost absorption on trading partners rather than addressing underlying structural issues.
Claude Lavoie, a contributing columnist for The Globe and Mail and former director-general of economic studies at the Department of Finance, argues that these measures are redundant.
By enforcing both origin rules and tariffs, the administration is effectively taxing the same trade flows twice, increasing costs for businesses without necessarily achieving the intended protectionist goals.
This development follows recent moves by the US government to continue collecting tariffs introduced during the Trump administration, despite a court ruling that deemed them legally questionable.
The administration has also moved to reimpose trade barriers following a Supreme Court ruling that struck down previous measures, constructing new tariff structures based on different legal arguments.