Neighbours, partners, allies and, next, enemies
Trump is wrecking his Country’s historic relationship with Canada, writes Andrew Cohen.
“Geography has made us neighbours. History has made us friends. Economics has made us partners. And necessity has made us allies. Those whom nature has so joined together let no man put asunder.”
— President John F. Kennedy, Parliament of Canada, May 17, 1961
In a season of insults, flattery and forbearance, amid entreaties, appeals and gamesmanship, things are coming apart between Canada and the United States.
No, we are not going to war. We are not sealing the border. We have not recalled our ambassadors or closed our embassies. It’s nothing like that. But as months of fitful trade talks resume this week in Washington, we are on the cusp of a rupture — the worst, perhaps, in our history.
The United States, led by an aggrieved president, wants to rewrite the terms of trade with Canada that have governed our commercial relations, and brought us both benefits, since 1989. This was not a problem before for successive presidents, Republican and Democrat, who understood that trade is not always about surpluses and deficits.
It wasn’t a problem until Donald Trump made it one. And now, single-handedly, armed with the powers of his office, what nature has so joined together, he threatens to put asunder.
It is Trump who called the North American Free Trade Agreement “the worst deal ever” and demanded its renegotiation. It is Trump who claimed, wrongly, that Canada has a trade
Trump treats Canada as he would a banana republic.
surplus with the United States. It is Trump who imposed tariffs on goods imported from Canada. And now it is Trump who threatens Canada with tariffs on automobiles that it exports — which would be catastrophic — if Canada does not bend to his will.
Geography has made us neighbours, but alas, Trump is defying nature: He is making us enemies. If the Americans do not yield, Canada now has a choice: Sign a deal that may not have a satisfactory dispute-settlement mechanism; that may have a sunset clause, even if it is longer than five years; and that requires concessions in dairy (not a bad thing) and other areas. Or, risk a trade war with an economy 10 times our size that we will lose.
What is striking in all this is the tone of the conversation. Trump has belittled the process, boasting to reporters that Canada will get nothing from him. Never before has Canada been exposed to such brazenness, vulgarity and ignorance. Trump treats Canada as he would a banana republic. He cares nothing, knows nothing. He is absolutely faithless. Nothing seems to matter.
Justin Trudeau and his emissaries have tried mightily to placate Trump — making personal connections, using intermediaries such as Brian Mulroney, courting the president, making the ornamental Ivanka Trump feel important.
Nothing seems to matter. The longest unmilitarized border in the world. Some $2 billion in trade, both goods and services, a day. A tapestry of pacts, agreements, exchanges and covenants covering defence, culture, education, science, technology, security and more.
It doesn’t matter that Canadians fought with Americans in two world wars, Korea, the Persian Gulf, Kosovo and Afghanistan. It doesn’t matter that Canada sent peacekeepers to Cyprus — Lester Pearson responding immediately to Lyndon Johnson’s urgent request, dispatching them before Parliament even debated it. It doesn’t matter that Newfoundland took in thousands of stranded Americans after Sept. 11 or that we bravely sheltered American diplomats in our embassy in Tehran in 1980.
It doesn’t matter because the president doesn’t know. He doesn’t know, but even if he did know, loyalty doesn’t matter. So now if we don’t submit to his terms, he threatens to wreck our economy. Canada will have to sign a weaker deal or walk away. It is a bad choice we should not have to make. A neighbour, friend, partner and ally deserves better.