{"id":182147,"date":"2026-08-25T11:49:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T11:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/182147\/"},"modified":"2026-08-25T11:49:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T11:49:09","slug":"why-trumps-trade-war-against-canada-wont-make-america-great-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/182147\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Trump\u2019s trade war against Canada won\u2019t Make America Great Again"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Coils of steel are seen ready for transport at an ArcelorMittal Dofasco facility in Hamilton, Ont., on Aug. 24, as trade tensions between Canada and the U.S. escalate.COLE BURSTON\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cDonald Trump\u2019s brilliant plan to Make China Great Again<\/a>.\u201d <\/p>\n

That\u2019s the headline I put on a column, more than a year-and-a-half ago. It\u2019s holding up rather well.<\/p>\n

The U.S. President owes his election and re-election in part to what is known as the \u201cChina shock.\u201d The rise of Chinese manufacturing at the start of the 21st century, the result of a Chinese economic model focused on boosting exports, restricting imports and plowing savings into manufacturing overcapacity<\/a>, hollowed out large parts of the developed world\u2019s industrial base. <\/p>\n

The trend is continuing with \u201cChina shock 2.0,\u201d which began several years ago. China is now a leader or challenger in many advanced technologies, including electric vehicles. It also has far more industrial capacity than its domestic market can absorb. It\u2019s betting on huge export growth, even as it continues to repress domestic demand and restrict imports.<\/p>\n

All of this has created real problems for the U.S. economy \u2013 and Europe, Japan, South Korea and Canada. The stage has also been set for the possibility of further reductions in the U.S. manufacturing base, and that of other developed countries. <\/p>\n

Opinion: Mark Carney is digging in for the trade war<\/a><\/p>\n

Given the connection between industrial capacity and military capability, this is a major problem for U.S. national security, and that of Europeans, Japanese, South Koreans and Canadians.<\/p>\n

The one insurmountable advantage the U.S. has always had over China is its friends. Beijing has no friends. It has buy or coerce followership. Washington is \u2013 was \u2013 at the centre of a network of like-minded, willing allies.<\/p>\n

The best way for the United States to face the China shock is as the leader of an alliance of industrialized countries. There is shared interest in creating a non-China trade bloc. There is common ground for common action.<\/p>\n

Or at least there was. <\/p>\n

Mr. Trump returned to office in 2025, talking tough on China. He quickly dropped that, after Beijing taught him painful lessons about U.S. dependence on Chinese supply chains in vital areas such as rare earths. <\/p>\n

Mr. Trump moved onto the playground\u2019s softer targets: America\u2019s friends.<\/p>\n

Getting manufacturers to move from Guangdong to the U.S. is difficult. But what about pushing industries to relocate from Windsor to Detroit<\/a>?<\/p>\n

\u201cOur closest ally. Our critical trading partner. And Trump is hitting Canada with 50% tariffs,\u201d California Governor Gavin Newsom wrote last weekend<\/a> on social media. \u201cWhat the actual fuck are we doing?\u201d <\/p>\n

What the actual what is that the Trump administration believes it has discovered an easy way to boost American manufacturing: Steal it from the neighbours.<\/p>\n

Previous U.S. administrations saw an economically strong Canada as an advantage. The bigger and richer Canada was, the bigger, richer and more competitive the common North American market would be. Auto manufacturing became the best-known example of mutually beneficial integration. <\/p>\n

Free trade with China is an issue, and it should be, but free trade with Canada was always seen as a win-win. It was an input into American prosperity, not a barrier to it.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration rejects all of that<\/a>. It started its attacks with words and quickly escalated to action. <\/p>\n

Its vision for North America involves building trade barriers to try to force Canadian manufacturing to move south of the border \u2013 or \u201cmove back,\u201d as Mr. Trump and his minions are apt to say, as if our industry is stolen American property.<\/p>\n

Ottawa readies tariff-relief plan for businesses<\/a><\/p>\n

The pitch to Canada in the recently collapsed trade talks<\/a> was the same as Mr. Trump made last year to the Europeans, Japanese and others: Accept higher tariffs on your manufacturers and don\u2019t retaliate, or we\u2019ll hit you with even higher tariffs. <\/p>\n

We\u2019re going to block some of your exports, but you can\u2019t block any of our exports. <\/p>\n

We punch. You keep your hands down. <\/p>\n

We take. You give. Or else.<\/p>\n

Canada also got hit with a new demand: Washington wanted restrictions on Ottawa\u2019s ability to pursue trade with other trading partners, and wanted us to agree to common trade barriers against them.<\/p>\n

Banana republic, anyone?<\/p>\n

All of this would turn Canada into a deindustrialized vassal state. A land of hewers of wood, drawers of water and diggers of oil \u2013 but no more makers of cars, steel and other manufactured goods.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Genghis Khan economics. <\/p>\n

Using tariff walls to force Canada to export less to the U.S. won\u2019t cause Canada to import more from the U.S. It will merely diminish the Canadian economy and Canadian buying power \u2013 which means a reduction in imports.<\/p>\n

Preventing Canada from counterbalancing the loss of U.S. markets by trading more with other countries would have the same impact. Making Canada poorer simply can\u2019t lead to Canada buying more from the U.S. The math doesn\u2019t sum.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration\u2019s trade strategy with Canada, like it\u2019s trade strategy with the rest of the world, is not only bad for the country caught in its sights. It\u2019s bad for the U.S. It will raise prices for American consumers and businesses, cut established supply chains, make American industry less efficient, and undermine American exports. <\/p>\n

It will also sever alliances and friendship.<\/p>\n

Clumsily borrowing from China\u2019s playbook won\u2019t Make America Great Again. It will bring down the curtain<\/a> on the American Century.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Coils of steel are seen ready for transport at an ArcelorMittal Dofasco facility…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":182148,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[164,224,238,214,212,239,17,211,230,231,227,213,210,235,171,234,143,222,249,215,216,229,225,226,219,240,220,244,245,247,242,246,94,243,217,142,233,113,232,241,223,236,237,228,221,218,248],"class_list":["post-182147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=182147"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182147\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/182148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=182147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=182147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}