The Hemisphere: Trade with Britain

When Prime Minister John Diefenbaker proposed last July that Canada trim its trade deficit with the U.S. by diverting 15% of its trade from the U.S. to the United Kingdom, he unintentionally put Britain's Tory leadership on the spot. The Empire-thumping wing of the British Tories, which strongly opposes London's tentative plan to join the European Free Trade Area, pounced on Diefenbaker's suggestion as opening up a practical alternative, even though Diefenbaker gave no real inkling on how the Canadians proposed to implement the shift. Last week Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Peter Thorneycroft suavely handed John Diefenbaker notice to put...