By M Dowling
President Trump told Canada enough is enough. He told Canada in the North and Mexico in the South, we are all going to get along a lot better if we’re all robust, autonomous, and independent. But we don’t like dependent countries that embrace socialism, and then mask their failures by having us subsidize them.
Victor Davis Hanson discusses tensions regarding trade policies, energy infrastructure, and economic disparities between the United States and Canada.
One problem with tariffs concerned Canada’s proposal for a 5% surcharge on digital media companies to subsidize Canadian government agendas such as DEI.
Hanson raised concerns about how foreign media conglomerates are treated compared to American businesses. The United States views itself in an existential struggle against Chinese mercantilism, including issues like patent theft, currency manipulation, and massive trade surpluses.
Trump wants symmetry in trade relations.
Internal Canadian provincial conflicts also prevent the transport of oil from Alberta to Ontario or British Columbia. Hanson notes that while Canadian provinces obstruct internal pipelines, the United States allows pipelines to cross its borders for export. Alberta wants to transport it to the US. They are on the border, and they want to make money. The Canadian provinces don’t want fossil fuels.