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Technology policy researchers say Canada’s alignment with a United States-led pro-innovation and artificial intelligence blueprint at the Group of 20 meeting last week is unlikely to help thaw their trade dispute and Ottawa will continue to face growing U.S. pressure to follow its stance on technology policy.

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G20 member nations agreed to adopt the Carolina Principles for Emerging Technologies proposed by the U.S., which champion a light-touch approach to regulating AI and emerging technologies, at the G20 innovation and technology summit in Chapel Hill, N.C.

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The broad guidelines endorse accelerating the development and adoption of AI and emerging technology and reducing “unnecessary barriers” on innovation by expediting approval processes and providing regulatory exemptions in select cases. It also asks countries to “consider the opportunity cost” of delaying AI adoption.

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AI and Digital Innovation Minister Evan Solomon said Canada supports pro-innovation mechanisms that remove unnecessary barriers while upholding Canadian sovereignty to act where needed to protect its citizens.

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“We are open to (AI’s) extraordinary opportunities and candid about the risks,” he said.

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The G20 agreement to adopt the non-binding framework shows most countries view AI as a technology that requires time and fewer constraints to mature, said Daniel Araya, a senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) who is focused on AI and technology policy.

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“There was mutual self-interest to sign on (and) it gives everyone a bit of freedom to do what they want,” he said, adding that Canada’s decision is unlikely to help smooth friction or move the needle on trade talks between Ottawa and Washington.

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Jaxson Khan, a senior fellow on AI at the University of Toronto and chief executive of consultant Aperture AI, said the bigger question is whether the alignment pulls Canada closer to a U.S.-led technology bloc.

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“The principles read like a first step in that direction without pinning us down,” he said.

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At the same time, Canada will continue to face growing U.S. pressure to conform to its regulatory stance and worldview on AI and tech, one that the country sees as a zero-sum game and advocates for U.S. tech domination, said Michael Karanicolas, the James S. Palmer chair in public policy and law at Dalhousie University in Halifax and a former director of the University of California, Los Angeles’s Institute for Technology, Law and Policy.

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“The broader American posture since Trump’s re-election has explicitly aimed at advancing America’s economic interests at the expense of its partners and allies,” he said.

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Karanicolas said this larger U.S. effort to push for regulatory alignment and for countries to “pick a side” is concerning for Canadian digital sovereignty, which requires diversifying Canada’s dependence away from the U.S., including technology.