Trade law as foreign relations law

This article reflects on the normal frame for international trade law in times of resurgent assertions of national interest in domestic politics and in foreign relations. An emphasis on national interest poses special problems when legal and economic relations are fundamentally transnational, necessarily involving multiple and complex connections across national borders and reflecting a diverse and complex pluralism within each national tradition. This is especially true in Canada, which is a society foundationally built on flows of people, goods, capital, and ideas from around the world as well as Indigenous and First Nations societies. A turn to foreign relations law, if made with a critical and transnational perspective, might offer a valuable new frame for trade law in challenging times.