Canada is in a bit of a pickle when it comes to trade talks with the United States, and it is not clear what the way forward should be, particularly as it involves a leader who explodes in storms of twitter feeds.
Canada just finished hosting the G7 Summit in Charlevoix, Quebec, where our prime minister, Justin Trudeau, was all smiles in photo ops while shaking hands with U.S. President Donald Trump — but he then earned the wrath of the American administration by declaring that Canada will not be pushed around in regards to trade.
This released a tirade of twitter statements from the president, who declared (among other things) that Trudeau is “weak” and “dishonest”.
Trump said a great deal other things as well, calling fair trade “fool trade” if it is not reciprocal, and then his trade advisor, Peter Navarro, had this strong statement: “There’s a special place in hell for any foreign leader that engages in bad faith diplomacy with President Donald J. Trump and then tries to stab him in the back on the way out the door.”
Canada seems to be in the position of a mouse trying to deal with the elephant who wants to stomp on him, as Trudeau reluctantly spoke of instituting trade tariffs on the U.S. for their unfair trade practices. Canada may very well have a legitimate complaint to make about American actions, such as threatened tariffs on cars made in Canada (that use U.S.-made parts, by the way) or on steel and aluminum produced here.
The problem with retaliatory trade actions is it will escalate the situation into a trade war, where Canada is not big enough or strong enough to cause the U.S. to blink from their position of looming over our country with a rather large club, ready to strike at us.
As Trump has been involved in the historic meeting with the leader of North Korea in Singapore this week, the possibility is that he was putting on a show of strength so as not to appear weak as he undertakes talks with the Korean dictator. This however does not excuse the bully-tactics of attacking Canada, the largest trade partner that the U.S. has.
The preferable way to resolve these issues is at the negotiating table, where trade representatives from both countries can lay out the issues relating to every area of trade. There are extensive lists of items that Canada and the United States trade, involving agriculture, forestry and manufacturing, and it is to the benefit of both countries to resolve outstanding issues, even if it means renegotiating the terms of the Free Trade Agreement. This means toning down the rhetoric so talks can take place, and not being so confrontational to their next-door neighbour. — Greg Nikkel
