Episode summary
Can America Rebuild Trust With Its Allies?
Wall Street Week
· · 11 min · Guests: Chrystia Freeland, Janet Yellen
Summary
Chrystia Freeland argues that the US-Canada relationship has been strained by President Trump's tariffs and by a broader U.S. turn away from reliable allied partnerships. She says she still admires the United States, but believes its treatment of allies, including Canada, is “absolutely reprehensible,” and that friends should not pretend otherwise. The conversation centers on her book, Unreliable Boyfriend, and on her view that globalization became too dependent on countries willing to weaponize trade and supply chains.
Freeland says China’s WTO entry in 2001 was treated too naively, because Beijing’s mercantilist system and control over critical industries helped expose the risks in open trade. Janet Yellen’s friendshoring idea is presented as a practical answer: deepen security and economic ties with trusted partners, reduce dependence on adversarial states, and keep trade open but more selective. Yellen says COVID, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and Europe’s dependence on Russian energy all showed how vulnerable supply chains had become.
Both speakers say the U.S. can rebuild trust with allies, but only if it stops treating alliances as instruments to be weaponized and recognizes that tariffs and broken trade relationships also hurt American workers and consumers.
Key takeaways
- Freeland says President Trump’s tariffs and rhetoric have damaged U.S. credibility with Canada and other allies.
- Yellen says friendshoring was a response to COVID shortages and Russia’s use of energy dependence as leverage.
- Freeland argues China’s 2001 WTO accession was “incredibly naive” because it ignored Beijing’s mercantilist strategy.
- Both speakers say stronger security alliances and more selective economic ties can rebuild the Western alliance.
- Yellen says tariffs have worsened affordability for Americans and have not helped working-class households.
Notable quotes
“I think the way that the United States is treating its allies, very much including Canada today, is absolutely reprehensible”
“China's admission to the WTO in 2001 was well-intentioned by everyone, but incredibly naive”
“trade could be weaponized and was potentially dangerous in that way, to trade with countries that really didn't share your values”
“we had become very dependent, rare-earths, I think, would be the best example of this, on supplies from countries that were not our friends”
“The tariffs have only made that worse”
How the episode opens
Westin: This is a story about rocky times, that is one way to describe what President Trump's aggressive trade policies have meant for U.S. relations with some of its closest allies around the world. Our special contributor, Chrystia Freeland, saw it firsthand when she served as the Canadian Trade Minister responsible for negotiating the USMCA, and then as her country's finance minister and deputy prime minister.
She tells the story of how she came to be at the center of Canada's economic policies in her new book, "Unreliable Boyfriend," published this week. You have your new book out called "Unreliable Boyfriend. Let's start with the title.
-It is an intentionally fun, slightly cheeky title, because I think it's important that when we're talking about the global economy, we don't act as if only the high priests of, you know, business and academia are allowed to talk about it. Westin: And it is important, given your positions in the government of Canada and your relations with the United States on trade and on other things, that a fair amount of the book is about things that you like about the United States, that Canada likes about the United States. -Yeah, thank you for noticing that, David.
You know, President Trump has been pretty clear how he feels about me. He said I was toxic. He said I was a nasty woman.
He called me a whack. At one moment during the negotiations around the trade deal that we currently have between Canada and the United States, he actually announced at a meeting that he didn't like their negotiator very much, that was me, and said, "She doesn't like the United States. That's not true, David.
I actually am a person who has a huge admiration for the United States and so many of the great things about the United States.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- globalization
- trade weaponization
- supply chains
- allied trust
- unreliable trade
Watch the episode
Watch “Can America Rebuild Trust With Its Allies?” on YouTube
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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