Freeland continues to give the impression that she is not up  to the job. As Mike Blanchfield notes, Canada would run a trade surplus with the US if there were a higher oil price, so it doesn't make sense to lay a heavy emphasis on us having a trade deficit now with a lower oil price. Surely the main argument is that we are a fair trader, although the way Governor Poloz seems bent on having a currency war with the US, even this is disputable. Freeland had better than a year to negotiate a softwood lumber agreement with the US before Trump took office but couldn't do it. Now, as the article says, it looks like our softwood lumber is likely to get hammered hard by US countervailing duties.