Carson Jerema: Trump wants trade — just not on terms anyone can decipher

U.S. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Mark Carney attend a work lunch as part of the G7 summit, in Evian, France, on June 16, 2026. Photo by EVELYN HOCKSTEIN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Article content

U.S. President Donald Trump’s position in his trade dispute with Canada is that this country must absorb any and all unprovoked acts of aggression and possibly even ask the Americans if they can deliver more hardship, maybe even thank the president for imposing tariffs on us. It is difficult to draw any other conclusion from the new round of tariffs Trump has pledged this week to enact on Canada.

Article content

Article content

Threats of new 50 per cent levies on a smattering of Canadian imports, ranging from cement to dairy, and from jewelry and essential oils to smartphones and gaming consoles, are intended as supposed retaliation for Canada’s supply management system, as well as the ban on American liquor sales in some provinces, and Canadian tariffs on American auto imports.

Article content

Article content

Article content

In an op/ed published today in National Post, Trump trade advisor Peter Navarro outlines the U.S. position, arguing Canada “singles out American farmers, distillers, automakers, and workers.” This country, in Navarro’s view, is supposedly demanding “access to the American market while reserving the right to close its own when competition becomes inconvenient.”

Article content

This framing demands Canada accept that up is down and black is white. Since Trump has returned to the White House, he has levied tariff after tariff against Canada, nearly all of which violate the Canada U.S. Mexico Agreement, or CUSMA. These include tariffs on so-called non-CUSMA compliant goods, but also on Canadian-made autos and Canadian steel and aluminum.

Article content

Article content

The president constantly dangles the promise of a new deal, while also threatening new tariffs unless other non-trade concessions are met. This has included demanding Canada forego plans to bring in a digital services tax that would have largely affected American tech companies, an admittedly ill-advised policy. Prime Minister Mark Carney relented and killed the tax last summer and for doing so Canada got nothing in return, beyond constant threats of yet more tariffs.

Article content

Article content

Then again, in June, the government put a stop to a separate plan to force streaming companies, like Netflix, to pay into a fund to create Canadian content, which the Trump administration also opposed.

Article content

And just this month, Carney agreed to split the revenues from the new Gordie Howe Bridge, despite Canada fronting the entire cost of its construction, bending to pressure from Trump to rewrite an agreement signed in 2012.

Article content

A week later, the president threatened these new tariffs.

Article content

When Trump regained the presidency, he promised his supporters that his trade policy would increase American exports, but his trade war has, so far, yielded the opposite results. As Navarro notes, “Canadian imports of American alcoholic beverages fell 81 per cent” and “U.S. vehicle exports to Canada fell approximately 22 per cent.” The Americans blame Canada for this, when in fact, Canadian tariffs on American autos are in response to Trump’s auto tariffs on this country, while the removal of liquor from Canadian shelves is in response to the general trade dispute that Trump began.