ABSTRACT
Transatlantic trade has become a focus of United States attention, with links being drawn explicitly between problems in commercial trade relations and defense trade, as well as to broader security policy issues. This chapter analyses the stage for national discussions regarding issues such as international economic competitiveness, technology transfer, offsets, the dangers of foreign dependence, and the need to pursue international collaboration so as to stave off the specter of structural disarmament. It provides a short evaluation of issues in the case of Canadian-American defense industrial base and trade policy discussions. The chapter suggests that even in the well-known example of a remarkably successful bilateral defense economic relationship, the pressures for change are becoming evident and will be difficult and perhaps impossible to resist. The main body of analysis is organized around several sets of defense economic relationships involving the US.
