The air crackles with the electricity of a looming trade war. Trudeau versus Trump, round two, and the gloves are off. But again, Trudeau is wearing silk gloves.
From my perch, the situation looks less like a bare-knuckle brawl and more like a slow-motion coming train wreck, with Canada being the train wreck. The kind you watch happening in slow motion, and only able to yell horrified and useless advice at the screen.
Do you remember what happened with the Canada/US trade war in 2018? I remember it like yesterday. We put tariffs on bobbles and beads to fight a border war that did not have to take place.
The Canadian media spun a yarn of valiant victory against Trump's tariffs. Bourbon, ketchup, playing cards…the arsenal of Canadian defiance. Hogwash, or more like the corporate media protecting their space at the trough.
The truth is far more…murky. Let's say looking just below the surface revealed a much different story. A story buried beneath layers of cow dung deeper than I had to clean out of our neighbour’s barn for 50 cents when I was a kid.
The real story is Trudeau turning a blind eye towards China’s steel and aluminum dumping practices by shipping the material to Canada and then having it shipped to the USA as a
Canadian-made product. Is this a story of Trudeau putting China’s interests ahead of who he was supposed to protect?
It is a story about thirteen months of Trudeau’s inaction while the Americans screamed about it. This is not a story of Bourbon, ketchup, playing cards, and Canadian success. It is a story of Trudeau using a fake story to usurp our Canadian interests.
Fast forward to today. Illegal border crossings and drug smuggling are up, and Trump’s threats lurk in the shadows. We can complain that the problems at the Canadian/US border are minuscule compared to Mexico, but that is a lame-duck argument.
Trump does not care, and he wields the 25% tariff penalty stick on all Canadian goods. His rationale? Believe him, or else.
Trudeau's response? A series of public comments that are less "strategic diplomacy" and more "political performance art," a glaring example of lack of preparedness and lack of leadership.
If you want an example of leadership, look at the response by the president of Mexico. She has put Trump in his place. Unfortunately, Trump is now picking on Trudeau because Trump knows Trudeau is weak.
CONCLUSION
And that is the real tragedy. This issue is not just about tariffs. It's about leadership, foresight, and the willingness to face uncomfortable truths. It's about whether we will learn from our past blunders or stumble toward the next trade war with our eyes firmly shut. The next few months will decide our fate and our future.
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