The ongoing saga of The Donald’s tariff bullying of America’s allies and trade partners is far from being played out—if indeed it ever will be. The latest news of the POTUS imposing new tariffs on a far-ranging list of British products despite the fanfare and hoopla over a trade deal concluded mere weeks ago illustrates just how tenuous any deal with the “great dealmaker” is at the end of the day.
The new tariffs cover a huge number of British products, any that contain steel or aluminium. That includes products such as condensed milk (aluminum cans), motorcycles (steel and aluminum) and construction equipment—some 400-plus products. The new tariffs have taken UK manufacturers by surprise, being somewhat hidden within the terms of the much-ballyhooed new trade deal. Such is the wake that can swamp businesses small and large.
The obvious impact of global tariffs is that the US consumers are on the hook for the new tariffs. While the American public seems to have bought into the concept that it is the seller who will be paying the cost of the tariffs, anyone with knowledge of the actual manufacturing markups would realize in a heartbeat that businesses do not have the kind of markup that could sustain that business model.
This brings us to the news that Canada will be dropping most of its retaliatory tariffs on US goods and services.
The perennially bellicose Premier Doug Ford and the newly elected leader of the Conservative opposition in Parliament have voiced opposition to the move, calling for even stronger retaliation against the US economy. Poking the elephant, they say, is the best way to force it to come to favourable terms.
Sounds good, eh?
The problem, of course, is that the US elephant is bargaining with a Canadian mouse—a mouse, by the by, that depends on the elephant for defence (even if that means not getting stomped on by the mobster currently acting as the elephant’s mahout) and whose livelihood depends on supplying the elephant’s needs.
Countervailing tariffs, we would argue, are not the tool that will assist the Canadian economy in weathering the oncoming hurricane. Why might you ask? Striking back at the bully is a time-honoured tradition.
We refer you to the third paragraph above. It is the American consumer who pays the price for The Donald’s adventures in geo-political trade bullying. So, who pays the price when it comes to countervailing tariffs? The Canadian consumer who is already reeling from a host of economic winds of our own making.
For all his villainous machinations, it isn’t The Donald who is causing the current housing crisis where 80,000 Ontarians do not have a permanent roof over their heads. That honour falls to the provincial government whose constitutional responsibility it is; that same government currently headed up by the aforementioned Premier Ford—but make no mistake, this didn’t just happen on his watch. He, like other premiers of all partisan types and flavours in our federation, loves to blame the feds for all of the shortcomings in their own backyards.
It isn’t The Donald who has caused the current challenges in health care, with more than 2.5 million (and rising) of us in this province still struggling to find a family doctor. That too is a provincial responsibility—albeit one that is historically shared with the federal government thanks to the Liberal government of Jean Chretien’s draconian cuts to health transfers to balance the national budget (it worked, his Liberal government was the last to post surpluses in the federal budget). Still, the province fails to fully apply the current transfers to the health envelope.
The cost-of-living crisis that is falling heavily on youth and the vulnerable in our society is therefore largely of our own making—which leads us to believe that we are the ones who must find the way out of the current economic morass.
So, how does adding the burden of paying for countervailing tariffs onto the backs of the long-suffering Canadian consumer help with that? If we follow the logic of the third paragraph above—it doesn’t. Plain and simple. We pay the piper for that tune—period.
Oh, certainly some US businesses are feeling the pinch. But the past few months have shown the futility of escalation. That is not to say we should roll our tiny little mouse bodies over and just take it. But we need to find more innovative ways to strengthen our economy to weather these storms.
While the one-liners and dog-whistling coming from the current “loyal” opposition leaders’ mouths can be expected to continue hammering at our united front like a deranged Jack Russel terrier, they are barking up the wrong tree.
One of the main criticisms of the current “government in waiting” during the last election, the one where the Conservatives blew a supposedly insurmountable lead, was the lack of any coherent plan in the Conservative platform. Canadians, it seems, want something more than just a “we are not them” plan for governing.
The Canadian Constitution cites “peace, order and good government” as the founding principles underpinning our federation—and that appears to be the course being currently plotted by Prime Minister Mark Carney and his government.
The mouse will not influence the elephant’s path by viciously biting its toes—that strategy is far more likely to get the little critter stomped on. Scurrying out of the way and finding ways to avoid the worst of the foot’s damage makes far more sense. It may not be as satisfying as leaving tooth marks behind as an epitaph, but using your head makes more sense when your teeth are so tiny.
We need mouse-clever strategies, not kneejerk wannabe elephant-style retaliations. So far, we are seeing far too little of the former and far too much of the latter from those who would be king. Canadians have survived and prospered, built one of the most admired and envied nations on Earth, by working and pulling together.
It’s time we see more of that.
