The Globe and Mail reports in its Monday, Jan. 19, edition that Canada faces a significant challenge in mitigating the effects of U.S. protectionist policies. The Globe's guest columnist Andrei Sulzenko writes that if the American objective is to claim self-sufficiency in the automotive sector, then there is an alternative to erecting punitive tariff walls against foreign competition. That alternative is to have an Auto Pact-like regime that essentially guarantees the equivalent outcome, but preserves many of the efficiency benefits of the current production distribution. For example, if a participating company had sales of $500-million in Canada, it would need to generate the equivalent amount of domestic content in vehicle and in-house parts production, plus parts procurement from Canadian suppliers to qualify for duty-free imports of vehicles and parts. If that company underperformed by contributing less domestic content than sales, for example only $400-million, then it would need to pay duties on the $100-million shortfall. Such a system would incentivize companies manufacturing in the U.S. and Canada to arrange their business practices with a view to minimizing duty penalties, and in doing so, to balance trade.