President Trump is once again putting America First—and Canada is proving exactly why it needs a hard lesson.

Leave a CommentPresident Trump is once again putting America First—and Canada is proving exactly why it needs a hard lesson.Commentary

Last night, Canada declined very a generous trade deal to make the western hemisphere stronger, safer and more prosperous for America and Canada. They chose to align with Chinese communists and globalists over helping America secure the west and prosper together as a united front. Carney chose economic suicide (siding with China based on a vague promise of millions of customers that barely consume), while converting Canada into a warehouse for cheap Chinese exports.

President Trump is once again putting America First—and Mark Carney is proving why Canada needs a hard lesson.

Late Friday night, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer laid out the facts: Canada declined to finalize a deal that would have given Ottawa the best treatment of any major exporter to the American market. After days of talks, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and his team introduced new demands and walked back commitments. They continued prolonged retaliation—including flat-out bans on certain American goods—while enjoying decades of preferential U.S. market access. Even under Trump’s America First program, Canada received top treatment and still hit back like China. This week the U.S. offered significant tariff cuts on steel, aluminum, autos, and lumber, plus a historic economic and national security partnership covering export controls, digital trade, critical minerals, aerospace, forced-labor enforcement, and formal USMCA talks. Carney said no.

Carney then suspended negotiations, directed his team back to Ottawa, and claimed the last-minute U.S. terms were “unfair, uneconomic, and called into question the reliability of any deal.” At midnight the 50% Section 338 tariffs on roughly $20–28 billion of Canadian goods took effect—exactly as announced. Carney’s response was pure theater: “Canada will match those tariffs dollar for dollar to protect our workers and businesses.” He promised more taxpayer support on top of the nearly $25 billion already spent.

This is classic Carney: lecture about fairness while Canada maintains discriminatory dairy rules, provincial alcohol bans, and industrial freeloading. Matching tariffs will hurt Canadian workers far more than Americans. Nearly three-quarters of Canadian goods exports already depend on the U.S. market. Carney is sawing off the branch his country sits on.

President Trump offered Canada a partnership with the fastest-growing economy in the G7. Carney chose grievance politics and protectionism instead. That is the real missed opportunity. America will no longer subsidize Canadian cartels or free-riding. The tariffs protect American workers and restore balance.

Canada can return to the table when Carney is ready to negotiate in good faith—without last-minute stunts. Until then, America keeps winning.