Move over, globalization. Step aside, on-shoring and re-shoring. Make room for friend-shoring — and its inevitable higher prices and geopolitical fallout, Heather Scoffield writes.
Move over, globalization. Step aside, on-shoring and re-shoring. Make room for friend-shoring — and its inevitable higher prices and geopolitical fallout.
The federal government’s recent decision to ban Huawei from Canada’s 5G network is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to exposing the pros and cons of realigning your economic policy to favour your friends and shun everyone else.
The concept is meant to confront the perpetual crises of our times. It aims to mitigate the risks involved in dysfunctional supply chains, war, pandemic flare-ups and unregulated technology, and exclude those whose beliefs don’t align with our own.
It doesn’t go as far as the post-pandemic call for “on-shoring” or “re-shoring” — luring companies back home to work within the confines of a country’s borders. But instead of doing business freely with anyone at all, “friend-shoring” is doing business with those countries and companies that share our values.
For the rest of this article: https://www.thestar.com/politics/political-opinion/2022/05/25/who-needs-friends-with-benefits-canada-does.html