EDITORIAL|Standing up to abuse of diplomacy

At last, it seems that small to mid-sized powers are finding their voice and agency to stand up to the world’s super power.

Last Saturday, Mark Carney, Canada’s prime minister, pulled his team out of trade talks with the US . Recently, the Zambian government rejected strings attached to a bilateral trade deal .

The US offered $2bn worth of health aid in the next five years in return for access to health information of Zambians and preferential access to Zambia’s critical minerals. But the Zambian government did well to tell Trump’s government where to get off.

Carney was keen for a deal with the US. But he wouldn’t do a one-sided deal, let alone one with last-minute demands from Washington.

The US has since slapped Canada with tariffs on a range of vehicle imports to America. In return, Canada has announced retaliatory $20bn “dollar-for-dollar” levies on US goods.

While circumstances are different, the two cases have strong parallels. Both are close to the US. The current Zambian president, Hakainde “HH” Hichilema, enjoyed US support during his persecution by his predecessor Edward Lungu.

Though 13 times smaller than the US economy, Canada supplies energy to the US.

Zambia is small, indebted and underdeveloped, but as a major copper producer, it has leverage.

Not only does Lusaka regard US demands as immoral, it also sees them as undermining its right to trade with the world.

Carney came to power promising to reset relations with the US and to protect Canada’s sovereignty.

What made Canada’s walkout unavoidable were provocations by Washington. In one remark, Trump said Canada was behaving as though it were a state, when it wasn’t. He has also threatened to annex Canada to the US.

Ahead of the Saturday night walkout, senior US administration officials were also gloating about generous concessions they had secured from Canada.

Carney’s gamble against his neighbour is a well-calculated, yet dangerous, move.

While diversifying trade away from the US is conceptually appealing as a strategy, it will take longer than a year to cultivate new markets for Canada’s exports.