Even with Canada facing a significant economic assault from a U.S. President who views his own signed trade agreements as meaningless if his mood changes, some quislings within our country still blame Canada at every turn.
Their latest move is to claim that Canada should have submitted to Trump’s capricious demands and eschewed expanding our trade relationship with European and Asian allies to prevent the threatened imposition of 35% tariffs on Canadian goods.
The problem with this line of reasoning – aside from how foolish it is to think Trump will stick to an agreement in the future, given his rampant dishonesty – is that believing Canada is to blame for the tariffs imposed on our country requires pretending the rest of the world doesn’t exist.
Today, the Trump Administration released letters announcing 30% tariffs on the European Union and Mexico:
“President Donald Trump has announced that the European Union and Mexico will face a 30% tariff on imports to the US from 1 August.
He warned he would impose even higher import taxes if either of the US trading partners decided to retaliate.
The 27-member EU – America’s biggest trading partner – said earlier this week it hoped to agree a deal with Washington before 1 August.
Trump has this week also said the US will impose new tariffs on goods from Japan, South Korea, Canada and Brazil, also starting from 1 August. Similar letters were sent this week to a number of smaller US trade partners.”
If Canada was being tariffed because of some unique failure on our part – as the quislings allege – why are so many other countries facing tariffs? Why are other U.S. trading partners also bewildered by Trump’s willingness to violate past trade agreements and his disregard for good-faith negotiations? Why are they also recoiling from Trump’s assumption that he can impose whatever tariffs he wants while demanding others refrain from imposing tariffs in retaliation?
Fundamentally, this is why the quislings are completely wrong, and why many Canadians are repulsed by their rhetoric.
There is one common denominator to these tariff threats. It’s not Canada. It’s not the Canadian government. It’s not the European Union, or Mexico, or Japan, or South Korea, or any other nation that is being tariffed. It’s Donald Trump.
Donald Trump likes tariffs. He wants to impose tariffs. He believes trade is bad. He thinks (wrongly) that trade deficits mean a country is being robbed. He ignores the services trade, where the U.S. has a surplus with many countries. He views his own words as meaningless and turns against agreements, such as CUSMA, that he once lauded.
The quislings ignore all of this.
They refuse to acknowledge that all of this trade chaos stems from Trump’s actions, and instead seek to blame the Canadian government.
It’s a despicable approach because it’s based upon lies and is aimed at sowing division within Canada and weakening our position at a moment when our nation is vulnerable. That’s why we need to keep calling it out and continue to confront the false narrative with the facts.
Spencer Fernando
I write for a Canada that defends itself, governs itself, builds boldly, and stands with its democratic friends. If you want that case made week after week, support the work. For $8 a month on Patreon, you get the full-length essays behind these short pieces, and the complete archive.