There is an effort underway to rewrite history regarding the trade war launched by the United States against Canada (and much of the world).
That effort depends on reversing the sequence of events and casting Canada’s retaliatory tariffs as the cause of US tariffs.
The US ambassador to Canada, Pete Hoekstra, tried to make that case in a recent interview on Global News:
“Canada is the country that has pulled the rug out from USMCA,” Hoekstra said in an exclusive interview with Global News on Thursday.
“They also started putting tariffs on CUSMA products … We haven’t done that, but Canada has decided ‘That’s fair game. We will call into question CUSMA.’”
However, as pointed out by Andrew Leach, the United States imposed tariffs on CUSMA-compliant goods on March 4, when the trade war kicked off:
“The only way you can believe that Canada was first to violate CUSMA in Trump’s trade war would be to ignore the order of Feb 1 and its implementation on March 4. If the US didn’t tariff CUSMA goods, why did it need March 6 exemption of CUSMA-covered goods from March 4 tariffs?”
The only way you can believe that Canada was first to violate CUSMA in Trump's trade war would be to ignore the order of Feb 1 and its implementation on March 4. If the US didn't tariff CUSMA goods, why did it need March 6 exemption of CUSMA-covered goods from March 4 tariffs? pic.twitter.com/xFEgr4eUqz
And of course, Canada’s tariffs were retaliatory. There would be no Canadian tariffs on the US if the US had not imposed tariffs on our nation.
The reality is that U.S. President Donald Trump wants to either abandon CUSMA or weaken it, and he is looking for a pretext. His attitude is that he can violate trade agreements and inflict damage on US trading partners, but that any retaliation is an outrage. His “I win, you lose” vision of trade is the opposite of mutually beneficial trade and shows a deep disrespect for US trade partners.
It is also based on repeated lies. That’s why it is so important to remain tethered to the truth and remember the timeline of the trade war. It was started by the US, not Canada, and no amount of gaslighting can change that.
Spencer Fernando
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We need the Donald for protection as our Army has been underfunded near forgotten about. Hopefully Danielle Smith’s example of diplomacy smoothed out Trudeau’s flippant behavior to Trump on the world stage. ♀️ ✌ ❤️
We do not need “The Donald” for protection — we just need him to respect our sovereignty. With Trump as president, the U.S. has been the biggest threat to Canada’s sovereignty in our 158-year history as a country.
We need the Donald for protection as our Army has been underfunded near forgotten about. Hopefully Danielle Smith’s example of diplomacy smoothed out Trudeau’s flippant behavior to Trump on the world stage. ♀️ ✌ ❤️
We do not need “The Donald” for protection — we just need him to respect our sovereignty. With Trump as president, the U.S. has been the biggest threat to Canada’s sovereignty in our 158-year history as a country.