It was another week of chaos and disruption perpetrated by United States President Donald Trump. He makes no secret about the fact that he “loves tariffs,” even though he has no idea how they really work. This past week, he has sprinkled them over many parts of the world, especially with new threats to Canada.
Former American Vice-President Mike Pence, who served under Trump, knows more about tariffs than his former boss. “Tariffs are a tax. That 300-billion-dollar projection? (revenue to the United States from tariffs) We (Americans) are the ones who will be paying it, importers, business, consumers.”
As most people are aware by now, Canada and the United States are in deep negotiations in an attempt to construct a fair trade agreement by August 1st. (The original target was July 21st.)
Smack in the middle of this is a letter sent by President Trump last Thursday to Prime Minister Mark Carney, threatening a tariff of 35% on Canadian imports by August 1st and saying that any reciprocal tariffs imposed by Canada would be added to the 35% tariff from the United States.
Is he blowing smoke? Quite possibly. The problem is that we just don’t know. Creating chaos, uncertainty, and confusion, and making the most of the bully pulpit are favourite tactics of Donald Trump. His trade officials are trying to damp down these threats, but even they cannot guess what he will do or say from one minute to the next.
If, in fact, a trade deal is struck between Canada and the United States before August 1st, Trump may well sign it. The real question that matters, however, is whether he will honour it? Trump’s track record on honouring agreements or misinterpreting them for his own purposes provides absolutely no comfort to that question.
In the United States, the only way the president can impose tariffs without congressional approval is by declaring a national emergency. He has used this power by declaring that the distribution of fentanyl in the United States is a national crisis, allowing him to impose tariffs at least on Canada and Mexico unilaterally.
That may be a fair sanction on Mexico, but it is nonsensical to use emergency powers for this purpose on Canada. Study after study shows that less than one percent of fentanyl smuggled into the United States comes from Canada. Ninety-nine percent goes into that country from Mexico.
Canada does not contribute in any material way to what President Trump considers a national crisis, and it is therefore an abuse of the legislation to apply it to Canada without the consent of Congress. Sadly, however, Congress lacks the guts to do anything about it.
It is time, I believe, for Canadians to shake their collective heads and acknowledge what Donald Trump really wants. He wants Canada, lock, stock and barrel. He wants to bring us to our knees economically. He wants Canada to be part of the United States. We have an abundance of natural resources and Trump wants them. Plain and simple. For those who believe this is nothing but a conspiracy theory you need to think again.
One example is the difference in tariffs he proposes for Canada and Mexico in relation to fentanyl. Mexico, whose border is responsible for 99 percent of fentanyl that makes its way into the United States, gets slapped with a 30 percent tariff. Canada, where less than 1 percent of fentanyl flows across its border to the United States, is hit with a 35 percent tariff.
How does that make sense unless Trump has ulterior motives?
In his letter to Mark Carney, Trump said, “The Trade Deficit (Canada’s) is a major threat to our economy and indeed our national security.” The emphasis on security here leaves a lot of doors open. (See Putin and his reason for invading Ukraine.)
Canadian journalist Warren Kinsella wrote an article yesterday that said in part, “In mob parlance, Trump’s letter is what is called a shakedown: pay the protection money or else. You’ve got a nice little country Mark-o. It would be a shame if something bad happened to it.”
Kinsella also said that a new trade deal with Trump is a waste of time. While I am anxious to see what comes out of the bilateral trade negotiations on August 1st, I am beginning to fear that he is right.
With Trump in control, it is becoming clear to me that we will never get a trade agreement with the United States that is fair to Canada. To me, the worst thing that can happen is for Prime Minister Carney, in a 1939 Neville Chamberlain moment, to signal “peace in our time” with an agreement that favours the United States and keeps Canada tied to their apron strings and completely under their thumbs.
This is a pivotal time for Canada. It is also a time for boldness.
The time for testing whether we can come to a reasonable trade Agreement is between now and August 1st. Of course, the preference is for something that not only works for Canada but can be enforced.
After that, however, short of seeing some real signs of success on the immediate horizon, not only must the elbows go up, but the gloves must come off. As tough as the options may be, there can be no more pussyfooting.
The irony of what is happening in the United States right now is that while they are threatening sanctions to many of their allies, including Canada, Mexico, Great Britian and the European Union, they also believe they can remain as leader of the free world and seek isolationism at the same time. I am not sure that works.
Canada will not be the only nation seeking new avenues for trade and less dependence on the United States. We need to take huge advantage of that.
Whether we can ever completely cut our trading relationship with the United States remains to be seen. However, lacking a fair and equitable trade agreement between Canada and the United States, we will have to move in that direction. That means new partners, new relationships, and new opportunities, as well as the courage and determination to face what will be difficult and challenging times.
Are we up for that?
Hugh Mackenzie
Hugh Mackenzie has held elected office as a trustee on the Muskoka Board of Education, a Huntsville councillor, a District councillor, and mayor of Huntsville. He has also served as chairman of the District of Muskoka and as chief of staff to former premier of Ontario, Frank Miller.
Hugh has also served on a number of provincial, federal and local boards, including chair of the Ontario Health Disciplines Board, vice-chair of the Ontario Family Health Network, vice-chair of the Ontario Election Finance Commission, and board member of Roy Thomson Hall, the National Theatre School of Canada, and the Anglican Church of Canada. Locally, he has served as president of the Huntsville Rotary Club, chair of Huntsville District Memorial Hospital, chair of the Huntsville Hospital Foundation, president of Huntsville Festival of the Arts, and board member of Community Living Huntsville.
In business, Hugh Mackenzie has a background in radio and newspaper publishing. He was also a founding partner and CEO of Enterprise Canada, a national public affairs and strategic communications firm established in 1986.
Currently, Hugh is president of C3 Digital Media Inc., the parent company of Doppler Online, and he enjoys writing commentary for Huntsville Doppler.
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Donald Trump thrives on public attention. Every crazy pronouncement he makes creates havoc around the world because everyone is reacting to his lunacy. The antidote is simple – ignore him. If you pay no attention to him and his edicts, you rob him of the one thing his ego demands. In the meantime, drop counter tariffs on US goods until Canada can replace the US suppliers. Develop new markets within and outside Canada. Why punish ourselves? The sooner Canada demonstrates its economic, military, and political independence, the faster Americas will see the devastation Mr. Trump has brought. Let the world show him he’s not the superpower he thinks he is.
Trump. The one trick pony. If imposing tariffs is all they have, very sad for them!
If US bound Canadian oil and gas, Canada’s largest export category by far (over 2.5x the auto sector) is excluded, the US has a trade surplus with us. Trump knows this, but lies anyway. Hugh is right, Trump wants our resources, especially our oil.
The US consumes about 20 M b/d of oil, and imports about 6.5 M b/d of crude oil, of which 60% comes from Canada. Proven US oil reserves will last just over a decade at current production levels, and their oil consumption is not declining. Canadian reserves will last about 90 years.
Clearly we have big leverage with our oil and gas, we just need to get it to other markets where demand continues and will remain strong for many decades. This means new pipelines to our coasts, and never build any more to the US. It also means pipelines to Eastern Canada that don’t transit through the US, removing that dependency risk.
There is no time to waste, Canada needs to get it done ASAP, our country’s secure future depends on it.
I agree with Hugh and the above writers. But we need to go even further than just not buy from the US. We and all the other democratic countries in the world need to stop exporting to the United States. I know that this would be very painful in the short term but Trumps statement that they do not need Canada or any other country is malarkey. They very much need the rest of the world. If the rest of the democratic world truly traded with each other we would not need anything from the states. Trump is trying to bring us to our economic knees so he can just take us over. We need and the rest of the world needs to trade with each other, cut the US out entirely. Right now we are in for very long term pain with no gain, we need to reverse that. The only way to turn that around is by excluding the States and including every other trading partner around
Trump is an idiot if he thinks that the States can thrive without its trading partners. All of these trading partners need to exclude him and work with each other and bring the States to its economic knees.
If anyone thinks that Trump will stop after he overtakes us, they are mistaken, his ego will then start going after other countries who trade heavily with the States. Just think about how he wants to make Gaza a tourist destination, never mind that he and Israel are destroying an entire population of Palestinians. Or how Putin is trying to destroy and take over Ukraine with Trumps help. We thought that World War Two was the war to end all wars, but just stop and think about what is happening right now. The methods here in Canada and Mexico may be different but the results if we do not stop this now is going to be the same.
You may not think that this applies at all, but remember were Hitler started.
Thank you, Hugh Mackenzie. This editorial lays out the Trump chaos perfectly — and that’s exactly why Mark Carney’s leadership is a blessing for Canada. We’re not just facing trade talks; we’re facing economic warfare led by a U.S. president who weaponizes unpredictability. Carney isn’t an old-boys’-club politician playing buddy-buddy games; he’s a world-class economist with global experience, credibility, and a strategic mind.
While Canadian hockey metaphors like “elbows up” and “gloves off” capture the mood, Carney knows the bigger game is about precision — about diverting the opponent’s puck away from the net, not just aggression. We do that by adding trade partners who are truly on our team. Meanwhile, Trump is weakening his own country, losing far more globally than the U.S. will ever gain through tariffs and political chaos.
Carney is doing this for every Canadian, despite the divisional strategies trying to tear us apart. He’s focused on uniting the country, defending our economy, and setting us up to win — not just in the G7, but on the global stage. His knowledge is truly a godsend for Canada right now.
The divisional strategies of the right-wing Conservatives need to stop because they weaken us at the very moment we need unity. This isn’t a time to weaponize Canadians against each other with rage and misinformation; it’s a time to stand together. Ironically, the Conservative Party might have had a real chance if they had someone pragmatic like Carney — someone grounded in real-world problem-solving, who understands global strategy and economic leadership. But they will never win a federal election by targeting the very expertise Canada needs most to navigate and secure our success as a country.
Everything you say is true, Hugh. But I don’t think that we can continue to put most of the onus for saving Canada on the Prime Minister.
Canadians need to take this seriously and do our painful share of the heavy lifting. We’re doing a pretty good job of buying Canadian and avoiding American products but it’s not going to be enough.
We have to stop going there except under exceptional conditions like having children that live in the U.S.
Visiting the U.S. under Trump is like vacationing in Germany in the early 1930s — the trains still ran, cafes were still open, but something far more dangerous was already unfolding beneath the surface. History tells us that when democracy is unraveling, it doesn’t always look like a crisis at first — until it’s too late. Canada must not look away or pretend this is business as usual.
We shouldn’t ignore the warning signs just because the crisis hasn’t peaked yet. Canadians need to think twice about treating things as normal when they’re not.
I agree with your analysis Hugh. It is clear that Trump never really wanted negotiation. He wanted capitulation. If worse comes to worse and no trade deal can be reached, Canada needs to accept that fact and move on. It’s the Americans who will feel the most economic pain. When this fiasco started back in March I was a great supporter of Canada slapping reciprocal tariffs on the US. I am now of the opinion that Canada should just turn its back on the United States as a trading partner. Tariff wars are a fool’s game, but if there are other things Canada can do to impact economic harm on the United States I would say go for it. The LCBO’s removal of American liquor from its shelves, is a case in point.