We’re at war with Canada — a trade war, that is. What looked like a surefire deal fell apart at the eleventh hour, and Canada is now threatening a 50 percent, dollar-for-dollar response. The Canadian version of the story is that Howard Lutnick came in at the last minute asking for unreasonable things, while Mark Carney suggested that different parts of the Trump administration were making different demands. That wouldn’t be beyond the pale for this White House. Still, this smells like something that gets quietly resolved. There was a plane ready to land, and it diverted at the last minute.
Canada is in a weaker economic position, so the Trump administration believes it can be ruthless and demand more. But there’s an argument that you shouldn’t be so ruthless with your best friends, and America and Canada should be very close because we share so much.
