The punishing tariffs the Trump administration is threatening to levy against Canada, Mexico, and to a lesser degree China, signal the “near complete collapse” of the world trading order we’ve been living under since 1947, says a trade lawyer and former Canadian diplomat.

Outcomes of any challenges Canada or other countries might make to international trade bodies like the World Trade Organization would likely be ignored by the U.S. anyway, said Rambod Behboodi, senior counsel on international trade law and policy with Borden Ladner Gervais in Ottawa, whose trade policy experience includes time with the Canadian government, the World Trade Organization and as a trade litigator with King & Spalding in Geneva.