U.S. officials are threatening major changes to a trade agreement with Mexico and Canada that could upend the way business is done and leave Canada on the outs.
The Trump administration has a list of things it wants Mr. Carney to concede, including longstanding grievances about protected industries in Canada, such as the dairy sector. Another pressing issue for the U.S. administration is the fact that liquor distributors controlled by Ontario and other provincial governments in Canada pulled U.S. liquor off their shelves last year, in retaliation against Mr. Trump’s tariffs on Canada.
Trump administration officials have also been irked by Mr. Carney’s global charm offensive as he seeks to bolster Canada’s trade relationships with other countries, including China. Responding to a modest tariff deal that Mr. Carney struck during a visit to Beijing last month, Mr. Trump threatened to impose 100 percent tariffs on Canadian goods, and claimed that China would “take over” Canada and even ban hockey.
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Mr. Trump and his advisers have indicated that the three-country pact could be scrapped altogether. Instead, the United States could end up with bilateral deals with Canada and Mexico, the advisers have suggested. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
So Canada’s already had trade delegations in Mexico, very recently even, discussing ‘things’ with their partners. Both Mexico and Canada could easily read the room as soon as Trump was elected, that ‘nafta’ was toast – and have likely got their own bilateral agreements shelf-ready for when Trump shits himself during trade negotiations later this year.
Trump throwing a pants-shitting hissy fit isn’t a surprise to anyone. Nor is him responding with more threatening bullshit, when people are shying away from the US because of their threatening bullshit.