Is President Trump secretly working for Canada’s Liberal Party? You could be forgiven for thinking so after the failure of trade talks with Ottawa sent support soaring for Prime Minister Mark Carney’s handling of the matter. If there’s one thing conservative Canadians dislike more than the sniveling lefties running their federal government, it’s the bombastic Mr. Trump.
In one poll some 76% of Canadian respondents said Mr. Carney was right to end negotiations with the U.S. on Aug. 21, even
Is President Trump secretly working for Canada’s Liberal Party? You could be forgiven for thinking so after the failure of trade talks with Ottawa sent support soaring for Prime Minister Mark Carney’s handling of the matter. If there’s one thing conservative Canadians dislike more than the sniveling lefties running their federal government, it’s the bombastic Mr. Trump.
In one poll some 76% of Canadian respondents said Mr. Carney was right to end negotiations with the U.S. on Aug. 21, even though it led to new Trump tariffs on $20 billion of Canadian imports. Mr. Carney says Canada will retaliate with its own tariffs, to take effect Sept. 8. Mr. Trump has countered with a threat to impose 50% tariffs on all car and truck imports from Canada starting Jan. 1.
On Thursday the U.S. president said he is changing the name of Lake Ontario in federal records to Lake America. That’ll show ’em who’s boss. But Canada has its own ideas about how to inflict pain. Mr. Carney says his tariffs will be aimed at states in play in the midterm elections. Republicans are forewarned.
Both sides know a trade war is bad for their own economies. It’s a good bet both sides will find ways to climb down—eventually. But the story won’t end there.
Mr. Trump has done serious damage to U.S. credibility by picking a senseless fight with a neighbor, ally and important trade partner. For decades Washington has used trade agreements to help American farmers and manufacturers gain access to foreign markets, to develop international supply chains that boost competitiveness, and to enhance consumer choice and affordability. If those agreements can be abrogated unilaterally by the commander in chief, who’s going to trust Uncle Sam?
Mr. Trump didn’t like the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement. In 2020 he replaced it with his own U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Now he doesn’t like that. He’s desperate to blow it up but needs someone to blame.
The U.S. president says Canada is the worst country on earth when it comes to negotiating trade. Translation: It’s a little democracy that won’t knuckle under to his second-term tariff hikes. This is hurtful to a frail ego. It can’t go unanswered.
The trouble started in February 2025 when the administration used the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, to announce tariffs on imports from Canada, claiming the country was a major source of fentanyl coming into the U.S. That was absurd. Mr. Trump seemed to admit it soon after, when he exempted most imports from Mexico and Canada that complied with the USMCA’s “rules of origin.”
Mr. Trump also invoked Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, claiming threats to national security, to impose duties on steel, aluminum, a variety of metals “derivatives” (e.g., heavy industrial machinery and hardware, farm equipment, and heating, ventilation and air-conditioning units), autos and auto parts except those complying with the USMCA. Then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded to the Trump tariffs, announcing new tariffs and quotas on U.S. goods entering Canada, including autos. The trade war was on.
In October 2025, Mr. Trump, again using Section 232, put more tariffs on Canada. Upholstered furniture, cabinets and vanities from the north weren’t about to invade. But Mr. Trump was daring Congress to stop him. It did nothing.
In February the Supreme Court told the president that IEEPA didn’t give him the power to impose tariffs. That hasn’t kept him from abusing other trade powers delegated by Congress.
Mr. Carney has been more circumspect. Until now he has responded to Trump tariffs with subsidies for domestic producers and a buy-Canadian initiative. Yet while Canadian provinces stopped importing American wine and spirits, Ottawa hasn’t imposed new tariffs. Canada has retained protection in autos and in dairy, which wasn’t part of the retaliation. But in an effort to de-escalate the conflict last summer, Mr. Carney reversed other retaliatory duties.
The provinces haven’t been so conciliatory. They have refused to restart purchases of American alcohol. The Trump administration has felt the heat from American producers. “U.S. wine exports to Canada fell 78% year over year, driving a $357 million loss in export value,” the Wine Institute said in March. The U.S. accuses Canada of discriminating against American products. In July, invoking the never-before-used Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, it said it would impose new tariffs on a range of Canadian goods.
It’s left to the American business community to explain to Mr. Trump the harm he’s doing and that his obsession with the trade deficit with Canada, caused by energy imports, is misplaced. If that message gets across, there’s hope. Until then, Mr. Carney might want to thank Mr. Trump for the political assist.
Write to O’Grady@wsj.com.
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