SCARBOROUGH, ONT.—Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne has just returned from China, accompanied by a high-powered delegation of senior business and financial leaders, including the governor of the Bank of Canada. The visit follows Prime Minister Mark Carney’s own trip to China earlier this year.

At roughly the same time, coincidentally, one might say United States President Donald Trump has issued a new series of trade demands, among them concerns about forced labour in supply chains. It is a reasonable assumption that the president’s interest in forced labour is less about principle and more about leverage. He has already criticized Canada’s engagement with China, warning that we risk exposure to Chinese pressure; as opposed, presumably, to his own unique talent for insults and bullying.

Meanwhile, completing this circle of absurdity, China continues to deny the existence of forced labour in its supply chains.

Spare a thought for Prime Minister Carney, who must navigate this country’s interests while ping-ponging between these competing pressures. In his Davos speech back in January, Carney spoke of the need to “take the sign out of the window,” and move beyond comfortable compliance. That call now meets........

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