Skip to Content Subscribe Our Offers My Account Manage My Subscriptions FAQ Newsletters Canada Canadian True Crime Canadian Politics Health World Israel & Middle East Financial Post NP Comment Longreads Puzzmo Diversions Comics NP News Quiz New York Times Crossword Horoscopes Life Eating & Drinking Style Sponsored Play for Ontario Travel Travel Canada Travel USA Travel International Cruises Travel Essentials Culture Books Celebrity Movies Music Theatre Television Business Essentials Advice Lives Told Tails Told Shopping Buy Canadian Home Living Outdoor Living Kitchen & Dining Tech Style & Beauty Personal Care Entertainment & Hobbies Gift Guide Travel Guide Amazon Prime Day Deals Savings National Post Store More Sports Hockey Baseball Basketball Football Soccer Golf Tennis Driving Vehicle Research Reviews News Gear Guide Obituaries Place an Obituary Place an In Memoriam Classifieds Place an Ad Celebrations Working Business Ads Archives Healthing Epaper Manage Print Subscription Profile Settings My Subscriptions Saved Articles My Offers Newsletters Customer Service FAQ Newsletters Canada World Financial Post NP Comment Longreads Puzzmo Diversions Life Shopping Epaper Manage Print Subscription HomeNP CommentConrad Black: Carney's failed diversification gambitGradually we will become less dependent on trade with the U.S., but we must focus on pro-growth strategiesLast updated 18 minutes ago You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 23. Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI/AFP via Getty ImagesPrime Minister Mark Carney’s promise to lead Canada out of the economic and foreign policy shadow of the United States, and his bizarre Davos plan to lead a Thucydidean “middle power” revolt against Washington, has accomplished virtually nothing. Highly publicized overtures to China and western Europe are inconsequential. The United States still buys 68 per cent of our exports and provides 56 per cent of our imports.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorThe last refuge of the anti-Americans, China, which 10 years ago was supposedly about to pass the United States as the world’s greatest economy, is stagnating. China’s rate of growth is minimal. Artificial intelligence is producing a modest lift but China is receiving a small fraction of the annual AI investment of the United States. It is not achieving productivity levels that can make up for the sharply declining Chinese population, a consequence of the former leadership’s one-child policy. The Chinese population is expected to be cut in half by the end of this century. A giant real estate bubble has burst and the People’s Republic has responded with a heavy-handed regulatory crackdown, which saw billions in capital fleeing China and its financial markets, US$425 billion (C$597 billion) last year alone, according to writer and investor Ruchir Sharma.The National Post newsletter that doesn’t hold back, giving readers the unvarnished truth on media, politics and culture.By signing up, you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of Right? will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againCanada quickly redressed Trump’s only legitimate grievance against us — our free-loading neglect of our national defence. If oil exported to the U.S. at knockdown prices and sold on by it at a profit is deducted from the total, there really is no U.S. trade deficit with us. It may be that the Canadian-U.S. border could have been better monitored, but that is an American responsibility, as it was with Mexico — we aren’t East Germany, confining our population. Nor can we thank the Americans for the riffraff that floated right through their country and across our border, and for the deluge of firearms we have received thereby. Not having launched our country with a violent revolution, the right to bear arms is not unconditional in Canada, especially for illegal migrants.Trump-hate seems to be preventing our government and public opinion from noticing that the worldwide balance of power and correlation of forces is tilting steadily in favour of Trump’s America. The United States is now the greatest oil and gas producer in history and effectively controls Venezuelan production. In this space two weeks ago, I mentioned the pro-American roll of Latin American dominoes, including nine countries that have recently elected pro-American governments. The hemisphere is waiting for the Brazilian election in October, with the candidates of right and left running neck and neck. Trump has also effectively turned the screws on Mexico, which had run up a nearly $200-billion trade surplus, while illegal migrants remitted nearly $65 billion back to Mexico, as Mexico incentivized hundreds of American manufacturers to relocate and take advantage of cheap Mexican labour and tax holidays to export their products back into the U.S. The effectively open border also poured billions of dollars of drug profits into the Mexican economy. Trump has stopped practically all of that.Despite the Iranian conflict, the Middle East has been largely defused. Iran has lost its massive investment in nuclear military development and has been severely humiliated. The psychotic delusions of the Islamic Republic government cause it to ignore the fact that Iran is a sitting duck with no air defences and no navy and a military devoted altogether to the repression of the population. Israel is providing intelligence and missile-defence to Muslim Gulf states, which are now allies with the Jewish state and the U.S. against the Shiite Muslims of Iran. Hamas and Hezbollah have been mortally damaged and the United States will assure traffic through the Strait of Hormuz until new pipelines and pipeline expansions that bypass the Gulf make the strait less significant.The United States has detached Venezuela and Syria as Russo-Chinese satellites, Cuba is about to fall after its 67-year tragic embrace of communism and Iran will be strategically emasculated at minimal personnel costs to the U.S. Trump is allowing Ukraine both to manufacture Patriot missiles in-country and to strike targets anywhere inside Russia. Russia is now importing gasoline and buildings around the Kremlin are regularly damaged by drones while Russia has suffered over a million casualties and lost perhaps half of its arsenal of sophisticated military equipment in the failed aggressive invasion of Ukraine. For a country with a GDP roughly the size of Canada’s, these reversals are the end of President Vladimir Putin’s effort to recreate the greater Russia of Peter the Great and Joseph Stalin.The greatest challenge to the West is the collapse of Europe. Its previous embrace of almost total disarmament, the collapse of its birth-rate, impotence before massive illegal immigration from the Middle East and Africa, suicidal pursuit of the green terror against fossil fuels and nuclear energy, and its accelerating descent into self-throttling socialism all threaten to produce a new Dark Age in Europe. The recovery of European pride and strength now depends on the realignment of opposition parties in the United Kingdom, France and Germany, and the continued success of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.Canada’s position remains enviable. We have to undo 10 years of posturing, of ignoring national defence, of constitutional disintegration, of war on our petroleum industry to minimize our insignificant fossil fuel footprint and post-national absurdities such as lowering our flag for six months for an atrocity against the Indigenous for which there is no evidence. We have to phase down our public sector, reduce inter-provincial trade barriers, cut taxes, attract foreign investment and maximize our strengths.Gradually we will become less dependent on trade with the United States. It is time for growth policies and adequate, though never obsequious relations with the U.S., challenging though that can be, as in the annoying Gordie Howe bridge episode. The U.S. rewards its current allies on their conduct, not traditional allies that shilly-shally. Its best allies now are Argentina, the United Arab Emirates, Japan and Poland. It is time to show Canada’s strength, including rediscovered strategic judgment. America is rising and we can profit from that as we always have and continue to emerge from its shadow.National Post Join the Conversation This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.