Former chief trade negotiator Steve Verheul said Canada should be doing everything it can to reduce its reliance on the “unreliable partner” south of the border, but getting more value out of deals with other countries will be neither easy nor quick. (The Logic)

Talking point: Canada has worked hard to align its regulations with the U.S. Rules are different in Europe and Asia, Verheul said Thursday at a conference organized by the Broadbent Institute in Ottawa. Companies would have to produce goods to meet different standards for those markets, likely on top of those still destined for the U.S. market. “It’s not an easy thing to do,” said Verheul, who oversaw Ottawa’s negotiations of the trade pacts with the U.S. and Mexico, as well as the European Union. It can also be hard to know whether that is worth the investment, “knowing there’s a strong possibility that these issues with the U.S. could be temporary,” Verheul said.