Canadian politicians spent the week crafting responses to tariff threats from the megalomaniacal, unhinged leader of our closest neighbour. It’s never easy negotiating with a superpower like the United States. But it’s become infinitely more difficult with the return of Donald Trump as president.
As is his style, Trump’s pronouncements on his threat to impose 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian exports to the U.S. bounced back and forth like a ping pong ball this week. One minute he was adamant the full 25 per cent would kick in on Tuesday. The next, he was cutting deals to postpone them for a month, first with Mexico and then, after two phone calls with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, with Canada.
It’s hard to parse the motives of someone as mercurial as Trump. He muses about making Canada the 51st state and has displayed other Napoleonic tendencies — Greenland, the Panama Canal and now possibly even Gaza are in his sights. But it’s hard to see why he would actually want left-leaning Canadian voters in his electorate
The more likely explanation is that Trump wants to redirect corporate investments from Canada to the U.S. and shift our manufacturing jobs back to his own turf. We have to wonder how keen corporations will be to invest in Canada if they need access to the vastly larger pool of buyers in the U.S. Tariffs are designed to raise the price of imports and shift consumer buying patterns toward made-in-America goods.
It’s also possible this week’s on-again, off-again tariff negotiations were designed to force Canada to show its hand. If that was the case, it worked. The federal government announced a host of retaliatory first-round tariffs, with promises of more to follow. And most Canadian premiers yanked U.S. booze off liquor store shelves and began to plot their own retaliation strategies. Ontario’s Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford took aim at Trump’s right-hand man, billionaire Elon Musk, by threatening to renege on a Starlink internet deal and banning U.S. companies from provincial contracts. B.C. announced plans to diversify trade markets and Quebec has also threatened a 25 per cent penalty on U.S. companies applying for government contracts.
It also exposed a major fault line in Canadian politics that may not have been so evident before: even across Conservative-run provinces, there’s serious debate about whether oil should be treated differently than other Canadian-produced goods and used as a bargaining chip during negotiations. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says, not a chance. She hastened to curry favour with Trump at Mar-a-Lago with dizzying speed, declaring Canada should acquiesce to his requests, and by doing so, did her best to undermine the “Team Canada” approach.
Everyone stood down after Canada negotiated the pause. But the trade ground is still rocky. Debate continues over whether it is wise to consider an export tax on oil — our most desired resource. And the federal government is gingerly floating closer resource development ties with the U.S., which is a bit mystifying given Trump’s willingness to rip up agreements that have already been reached. Tariffs seem a direct affront to our existing Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).
It’s been one heck of a dizzying week for journalists, politicians and all Canadians, many of whom are so offended by Trump’s actions they have launched their own impromptu boycotts on U.S. goods. We’ll continue to follow the story as it plays out in the weeks, or possibly years, to come.
Adrienne Tanner - Editor-in-Chief
Quote of the week
“The fentanyl issue is just a smokescreen for what is a long-term goal of reshoring American jobs and reshoring American investment, and stirring up the shitstorm of uncertainty for investors”: Asa McKercher, research chair in Canada-U.S. relations at St. Francis Xavier University, on the U.S. tariff threats.
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