Trade limbo is quietly taking a heavy economic toll

There’s a sense of relief setting in that the Canadian economy has stepped back from the brink of recession. Growth has resumed, albeit modestly. “Resilience” is the mantra of the moment. We are bent but not broken by the trade war. That’s not the whole story. There is no such resilience in the manufacturing sector, which is being quietly smothered by the hostile trade environment. Canada is in its third year of a “manufacturing recession,” during which real manufacturing GDP and company counts have been steadily shrinking. A KPMG survey released last week showed that more than four in 10…