The following papers were commissioned in early 2018 to critically assess the state of Canadian trade throughout the world given growing waves of protectionism in the United States and in Western Europe. Some of the following articles look to appraise Canada’s approach in renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Mexico and the United States, while others look at Canadian trade in other parts of the world, namely Europe, Africa, and the Asia-Pacific. In addition to evaluating Canada’s present trade policy, other papers in this series also look to how Canada can prepare for the trade of the future. Like many of our other publications, the 2018 International Trade Series is subject to the same rigorous review process which ensures high quality research and analysis.