Another day, another threat.
U.S. President Donald Trump has issued yet another tariff threat against Canada. In a ‘Truth Social’ post, Trump threatened to tariff Canadian-made aircraft unless Canada certified U.S. Gulfstream jets:
No stability, no trust
These latest tariff threats follow a significant walk-back of previous tariff threats. Trump threatened 100% tariffs on Canada for signing a trade deal with China, which was then walked back to a threat to impose tariffs if Canada signed a free trade deal with China, something the Canadian government is not considering.
At a certain point, no U.S. trading partner can feel any sense of stability or trust, given that Trump imposes tariffs on a whim. Signed trade deals mean nothing to him, and much-hyped ‘agreements’ are often undone out of nowhere, as South Korea recently discovered:
Notably, South Korea learned about this from Trump’s social media post. The more erratic U.S. trade policy becomes, the more U.S. trade partners will look elsewhere. This is already happening, with Canada signing trade and defence deals with many countries and economic blocs, including the EU and China, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer travelling to China, and India & the EU signing ‘the mother of all trade deals.’
While the U.S. retains significant economic and military influence, it accounts for only slightly more than 4% of the world’s population. As it treats allies like garbage and makes any long-term planning impossible, the other 96% of the world will work more closely together. The impact of this will take some time to manifest, but U.S. economic power, political influence, and subsequently military influence will erode.
As for Canada, Trump’s latest tariff threat and ongoing erratic behaviour further vindicate the Canadian government’s move to deepen trade with other trading partners. Those who continue to blame Canada for Trump’s unreliability should keep in mind that nearly every major U.S. trading partner is also looking elsewhere. Trump – not the Canadian government – is responsible for this situation, and Canadians should stand together as our country fights to strengthen our economic foundation.
Spencer Fernando
Image – YouTube
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