An expert on Canada-U.S. relations says it appears President Donald Trump is trying to rewrite the rules on the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Dr. Asa McKercher tells our newsroom the 25 per cent tariffs that have been put in place by Trump on Canadian imports, have nothing to do with fentanyl, considering barely any of it makes it across the border.
“We’ve seen an end to the NAFTA agreement and its success for CUSMA. What we’re seeing now is essentially North America free trade that will be governed on a basis of tariffs, rather than sort of written rules to allow free trade.”
Dr. McKercher says we now find ourselves in a new world that we haven’t seen for many, many decades.
Navigating unfamiliar waters…
When it comes to Trumps unpredictability, Dr. McKercher says, how we navigate it is the trillion-dollar question.
He says Trump seems to be the type of person who likes a deal and hopefully one can be reached.
“The goal, obviously, the Canadian government with its retaliatory tariffs, is to inflict some damage on Americans to shake up politics.”
Dr. McKercher says the problem is that we don’t get a vote in congress, but we can put economic pressure on the people who do get the votes and put that pressure on Trump.
“He pays a lot of attention to the stock market. He pays a lot of attention to his friends in the business community. So, if those people can be hurt by retaliatory tariffs, then that’s the way to get his attention.”
However, Dr. McKercher says, dealing with him one-on-one like Ukraine’s President Zelensky, is a “potential for disaster”.
Will retaliation work?
Hopefully.
Dr. McKercher says he expects a better relationship with the United States once Prime Minister Justin Trudeau steps down, in a few days.
“I think there’s a chance for a reset with a new leader in charge of Canada. I think there’s a lot of bad blood between the Prime Minister and the President right now.”
However, there are new tariffs set to be implemented in the coming weeks and months and considering Trump has suggested our country become the 51st state, shows he doesn’t have a good view of our country.
All things considered though, Dr. McKercher says, we’ve done the best we can.
“Now, I think the ball is in some sense in our court. I think in Canada we’ve really got to think about ways to make our economy an economy of the future that’s less reliant on trade with America. And certainly, we’re seeing big efforts already.”
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