Breaking the trade trap: Can Canada diversify fast enough?

About this episode

The episode discusses Canada's trade concentration and the challenges and efforts in diversifying its trade relationships.

Canada's extreme trade concentration—with 75% of energy exports and 77% of manufacturing exports going to the U.S. in 2024—has left the country vulnerable to protectionist trade policies. While 2025 data shows encouraging early signs of diversification, most Canadian exporters still lack the infrastructure and trade channels needed to pivot away from U.S. markets effectively. In this episode of the 10-Minute Take, RBC Economics' Claire Fan and Carrie Freestone are joined by colleague Salim Zanzana for conversation on: Canada’s concentrated trade reality and how it’s evolved in the past year. What early diversification efforts reveal about Canadian exporters adapting. Recent developments between Canada and China and their economic impact.

People in this episode

Guests: Claire Fan, Carrie Freestone, Salim Zanzana

Topics covered

• trade concentration
• diversification efforts
• Canada-U.S. trade relations
• economic impact
• export infrastructure

Keywords

• Canada
• trade
• diversification
• exports
• U.S.
• China
• economics
• manufacturing
• energy

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Canada, U.S., China

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