Rules-based trade with U.S. is'over': Canada central bank head Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem speaks with reporters during an interview in Ottawa on Wednesday. Toronto - The era of rules-based trade with the United States is over, Canada's central bank governor said Wednesday, echoing a stark warning from the country's prime minister that President Donald Trump's impact on global trade is permanent. Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem made the comments during an interest rate announcement which held the key rate at 2.25%, citing unpredictable U.S. trade policies. Macklem has repeatedly warned that the bank's efforts to forecast the Canadian economy had grown increasingly difficult given the tariffs imposed and threatened by Trump. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.

Nations sell goods and services to each other because this exchange is generally mutually beneficial. It's easy to understand that Iceland should not be growing its own oranges, given its climate. Instead, Iceland should buy oranges from Spain, which can grow them more cheaply, and sell Spaniards fish, which are abundant in its waters. That's why the explosion in free trade since the first bilateral deal was penned between Britain and France in the mid-1800s has generated unprecedented wealth and prosperity for the vast majority of the world's population. Hundreds of trade agreements later, the United States and several other countries established an international rules-based trading system after World War II. But now the U.S., which has played an integral role in bolstering this system, is actively trying to subvert it.