With a worldwide reputation for being painfully, apologetically polite – and accepting the equal parts of respect and derision that come with it – Canadians must, reluctantly, develop a new strategy to deal with nations whose leaders are anything but.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s tacit admission last week that he had indeed delivered off-the-record comments to Bloomberg News reporters suggesting there would be no good will in negotiations with Canada over the North American Free Trade Act certainly deserves to be met with an equally brazen response.
Why Bloomberg reporters agreed to an off-the-record conversation with the current holder of the United States’ highest office is anybody’s guess; politicians ask all the time – nearly always for personal gain – and journalists must weigh any benefits to the public of learning and withholding information. But it’s the Toronto Star’s reporting Friday of Trump’s leaked-yet-uncomfirmed comments, that U.S. personnel would meet but not negotiate, that serves citizens’ interests for both countries.
Thankfully, Trump’s subsequent tweet – “…at least Canada knows where I stand!” – all but verified his reported message.
Wow, I made OFF THE RECORD COMMENTS to Bloomberg concerning Canada, and this powerful understanding was BLATANTLY VIOLATED. Oh well, just more dishonest reporting. I am used to it. At least Canada knows where I stand!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 31, 2018
Between that and Trump’s post-G7 tantrum earlier this year – calling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “dishonest & weak” for saying planned steel and aluminum tariffs on the dubious basis of national security were “kind of insulting” – it’s clear we’re dealing with a bully.
Oddly, and especially coming from an entrepreneur, Trump’s weak grasp of basic trade issues rises to the surface again and again, whether it’s his lack of knowledge on what products are manufactured wholly by the U.S. or his simplistic assumption that Americans show ID to purchase groceries. He fails to comprehend even how – and to whom – duty is paid at the border, somehow thinking that Canadians purchasing American shoes, then (by his own suspect account) scuffing them to make them look old, somehow cheats the U.S.
No, Canada can’t cave. We need to remain resolute and prepare for the discomforts that can come with standing one’s ground.
Whether we will find enough others to purchase our farm products, oil, lumber, ore and discounted hydroelectricity remains to be seen. We – all of us – will certainly pay a price, as happens in a trade war, regardless of who declared it.
Sorry, but sometimes it hurts to do the right thing.