Trudeau engaged in ‘foolish trade’

Many people believe retaliation against U.S. tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump is the way to go. They are not likely aware of the consequences of such actions. Tariffs have historically been used to protect industries from massive, low-cost economies, such as China. The U.S. economy is 10 times bigger than ours. To think that we can make an impact is foolish. From the start, U.S. negotiators had reassured Canadians that Mexico was the problem and Canada should not be too concerned. What has happened since then? Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose popularity has been sagging lately, calculated that backstabbing Trump after the G7 meeting would prove popular. As intended, his words after the G7 meeting forced Trump to propose new tariffs against Canada’s auto, metal, oil and other sectors. This is a foolish trade. Additionally, Trudeau knows what is required to make progress he must dismantle legacies such as the Canadian dairy and poultry marketing boards, but this would cost the Liberals many Quebec seats. He is deliberately directing attention away from the details of NAFTA negotiations by introducing the diversion of “gender issues,” to which the U.S. negotiators have paid little attention. Trudeau is gambling our economic health with very foolish cards, just like his father did. This shouldn’t all be seen as a bad thing. There was a time when televisions and most appliances were made in Canada. Each were higher quality and not disposable like today’s. If any of them broke down, it was more cost effective to fix them than to replace them. The jobs to repair them were in Canada. The days of filled e-waste depots of old Chinese exports could someday be behind us. Dave Stach, Windsor