Another week, another tariff.
I, like most other Canadians, thought we’d be done with this, at least for the month. We had our tariff scare last week, a bit of political theatre that felt more like a circus act. A strongman’s ruse, in a way; watch how he bellows as he reminds the audience he is the toughest in the ring! See how he holds his adversaries back with a single hand! Watch them slink away, tails between their legs!
Of course, we’ve now seen the puppetry for what it is, or at least appeared to be. President Trump threatened to damage our economies, and stood down once he thought he had out-negotiated us and got what he was looking for. Canada and Mexico, on the other hand, loudly re-promised promises we had made before, making a few concessions (like establishing a fentanyl czar for the 0.2 percent of all seizures of the drug entering the United States from Canada, according to the US Customs and Border Patrol) and managed to avert disaster for… well.
So, here we are. Despite our negotiating and our politicking, the President of the United States of America turns around and slaps his tariffs on us anyway. The 25 percent tariff will apply to all steel and aluminum imports the United States brings into the country and are scheduled to come into effect on March 12, 2025, according to reporting from the CBC. The tariffs are intended to strengthen the United States’ own steel and aluminum industries, while driving up the prices of any non-U.S. products for consumers. Make no mistake, tariffs are paid for by the people of that country, but Canada will still feel the impact as U.S. businesses begin to look elsewhere for better deals.
Politicians, analysts, economists and more have talked at length over the past week about the impacts of tariffs on Canadians, and how these threats have galvanized our fellow Canadians into buying Canadian goods, supporting Canadian businesses. The President may, indeed, step down from implementing his tariffs if he feels like other countries have kowtowed in adequate fashion. Come March, all we might have to show for this worry is yet another extension on the threats coming from our neighbours to the south, and with it, more worry.
But what won’t have changed come March, come June, perhaps not ever again, is the feeling that we have been betrayed by what was once our closest ally. That we have tried to work in good faith to make deals that are beneficial to both of our nations, to keep our jobs and economies stable and secure, only for them to slap us down without warning anyway. It feels like bullying. It feels like a breach of trust. It feels personal.
Journalism schools warn students not to use proverbs and idiom in their writing, but in this case, one apt phrase springs to mind.
“Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”
The United States has made tried to make fools of us, but that has backfired in our country’s commitment to banding together, supporting our fellows, and boycotting U.S. products and services we used to take for granted. But I think this most recent maneuver might linger in the minds of our politicians here at home. It might tell them we can’t trust the U.S. Government to act in any way except that which best serves their own interests, regardless of what they tell us to our faces. It might shore up their resolve to continue to work to strengthen our country’s economy independent of that of our neighbours to the south, as best as possible. And it might give them pause, when faced with the next round of bluster and threats and grandstanding, to stand their ground and refuse to give in even though we will now and forever be expecting the other shoe to drop.
