Editing Wilfrid Laurier (section)

====Tariffs and trade====

Though supportive of [[free trade]] with the United States, Laurier did not pursue the idea because the American government refused to discuss the issue. Instead, he implemented a Liberal version of the Conservatives' nationalist and protectionist [[National Policy]] by maintaining high tariffs on goods from other countries that restricted Canadian goods. However, he lowered tariffs to the same level as countries that admitted Canadian goods.<ref name="WLbio" /><ref>{{cite book|last=Francis, Jones & Smith|title=Destinies: Canadian History Since Confederation, Sixth Edition|year=2008|publisher=Nelson Education|pages=60}}</ref>

In 1897, Laurier's government impelemented a preferential reduction of a tariff rate of 12.5 percent for countries that imported Canadian goods at a rate equivalent to the minimum Canadian charge; rates for countries that imposed a protective duty against Canada remained the same. For the most part, the policy was supported by those for free trade (due to the preferential reduction) and those against free trade (due to elements of the National Policy remaining in place).<ref name="WLbio" />

Laurier's government again reformed tariffs in 1907. His government introduced a "three-column tariff", which added a new intermediate rate (a bargaining rate) alongside the existing British preferential rate and the general rate (which applied to all countries that Canada had no most-favoured-nation agreement with). The preferential and general rates remained unchanged, while the intermediate rates were slightly lower than the general rates.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Taylor |first1=K.W. |title=History of Tariffs in Canada |url=http://faculty.marianopolis.edu/c.belanger/quebechistory/encyclopedia/TariffsCanada.htm |website=Marianopolis College |access-date=October 5, 2022}}</ref>

Also in 1907, Laurier's [[Minister of Finance (Canada)|minister of finance]], [[William Stevens Fielding]], and [[Ministers of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard|minister of marine and fisheries]], [[Louis-Philippe Brodeur]], negotiated a trade agreement with France which lowered import duties on some goods. In 1909, Fielding negotiated an agreement to promote trade with the [[British West Indies]].<ref name="Fielding">{{cite web |last1=Miller |first1=Carman |title=FIELDING, WILLIAM STEVENS |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/fielding_william_stevens_15E.html |website=Dictionary of Canadian Biography |access-date=October 6, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Castonguay |first1=René |title=BRODEUR, LOUIS-PHILIPPE (baptized Louis-Joseph-Alexandre; Philippe) |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/brodeur_louis_philippe_15E.html |website=Dictionary of Canadian Biography |access-date=October 6, 2022}}</ref>