Explaining Trump's "Erratic" Tariffs on Canada

 

Of course the Trump tariffs are not about fentanyl. Trump needed to declare an emergency to give himself the power to impose tariffs. Fentanyl and terrorists crossing the border are perhaps a real concern, but they are not the main issue. They are rather the legal justification.

It is also not about forcibly annexing Canada. This is what the Canadian left wants you to believe; this is a straw man argument. Trump has publicly ruled this out. He is issuing an invitation to join the US, which is quite a different matter. Is a man proposing to a woman forcibly annexing her?

An interesting piece from the New York Times, posted on Facebook by Warren Kinsella, claims that in his phone calls with Trudeau, “President Trump laid out a long list of grievances he had with the trade relationship between the two countries, including Canada’s protected dairy sector, the difficulty American banks face in doing business in Canada and Canadian consumption taxes that Mr. Trump deems unfair because they make American goods more expensive.”

So the problems are Canada’s supply-side management over dairy, chicken, and eggs; our restrictive banking regulations; and the GST. Probably also the carbon tax. All things we, as Canadians, should want to abolish. Eliminating them would make our lives better—especially for the poor.

Ordinary Canadians should support Trump against our own government on these issues. This looks like a case of patriotism being the last refuge of a scoundrel.

To be fair, the piece goes on to suggest Trump wants to tear up the 1908 boundary treaty. But this makes no sense; that treaty did not change the boundary, but dealt with how to survey and mark it more clearly. Nor would it be worth Trump’s while to upset the applecart for some island in Passamaquoddy Bay, or Port Roberts. If he is suggesting border treaties can be renegotiated, this looks like just another pressure tactic.

Trump wants fair trade.