Trade Policy Trends: COVID-19, the Great Trade Collapse, and Canadian Trade Policy

Abstract

COVID-19 led to a marked decline in global trade. Canadian trade also dropped significantly. This led commentators to compare the COVID-19 pandemic to the Great Trade Collapse of 2008. This paper compares both crises and finds that Canada’s total trade (imports + exports) has almost entirely recovered since COVID-19 began. In contrast, Canada took much longer to recover from the collapse caused by the Great Trade Collapse.