Michael Higgins: Canada to America — Make a deal or watch how angry we get

The American and Canadian flags fly atop the Peace Arch at the Peace Arch Border Crossing in Blaine, Wash. Photo by David Ryder / Bloomberg

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Prime Minister Mark Carney has the luxury of vacationing in Tuscany as our U.S. relationship crumbles to dust but Canadians should buckle up for a rough ride.

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Trade negotiators on both sides are reported to be working feverishly on a Canada-U.S. interim trade deal before Donald Trump’s new tariffs come into effect next Wednesday.

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But what will Canada concede in any deal and how long will it last before the U.S. president decides to impose other tariffs based on a new excuse such as Carney not sending him a postcard from his Italian hideaway?

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Amid all this bewildering uncertainty and intense negotiations comes a new warning tactic from the Canadian government to the U.S.: If these tariffs go ahead then hell hath no fury like a nation scorned.

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Two sources told National Post that Canada “made it clear to the U.S. last week that if the tariffs were to go forward on Aug. 19, it will be difficult for Canada to make a deal.”

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According to a report in the Globe and Mail, Janice Charette, Canada’s chief trade negotiator, told her American counterparts that if Trump imposed new tariffs then the federal government would not be able to control the premiers or the public.

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What an astonishing threat to make. The federal government is absolving itself of any responsibility should a deal fail while also hoping that the likes of Doug Ford, David Eby and the guy on the Toronto subway do its job.

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Presumably, Charette was indicating that a lack of a new deal would mean the U.S. booze ban — a major irritant in America — would stay in place while maybe a revitalized Elbows Up campaign would convince Canadians to once again forego trips to Florida and all parts south.

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A U.S. factsheet issued in July about Trump’s proposed new 50 per cent tariffs on certain goods, noted that “Canadian imports of U.S. alcoholic beverages decreased by about 81%, or $582 million, compared to the same period in 2024-2025.”

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That’s U.S. millions so $812 million Canadian. We are talking big bucks and American breweries and wineries are hurting.

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Meanwhile, Canadians are still foregoing trips south of the border. In July, Canadians made 2.3 million trips to the U.S., an increase of 10 per cent over last year. But trips by cars, the main method of travel, were still almost 30 per cent lower than in 2024.

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The boycott of American goods and travel won’t end overnight.

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But it seems a bit rich to put Canadians so squarely in the negotiating firing line while the prime minister is sipping Chianti in Tuscany. It is ordinary Canadians who have the most to lose and the federal government should be making more of an effort to resolve this dispute at the bargaining table rather than making threats that rely on the premiers and the public.

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Just how much is at risk for Canadians was documented this week in a report by the Canadian American Business Council (CABC).