Unlike Trump's tendency to react swiftly, Canada appears to be waiting for the right moment. Carney and his cabinet spent most of this week emphasizing efforts to build closer ties with other countries and plans for domestic infrastructure spending, avoiding questions about further retaliatory tariffs.
Polls show widespread support among Canadians for Carney's decision to abandon a poor deal with the US and take retaliatory measures. Many Canadians even want to go further, supporting export taxes to raise prices for oil, gas, and electricity shipped to the US. Andrew McDougall, assistant professor of Canadian politics at the University of Toronto, said domestic opposition to compromise has put Carney in a dilemma, making it difficult for him to reopen negotiations.
Since the breakdown of negotiations, Carney and his government officials have stated that the failure stemmed from several US demands. These include: tariffs on steel, aluminum, and automobiles remaining high enough to make these industries uncompetitive; demands that Canada accept tariffs from a country with which it has a free trade agreement; demands to amend Canadian laws protecting its culture and the French language; and demands that Canada align its trade policies with Trump's, rather than continuing to make trade agreements with other countries. Carney stated that these demands are "simply unacceptable." U.S. officials disagreed with some of the statements above, but they remained clear that Trump would not grant tariff exemptions to any country.
“This is a very difficult political situation,” said Professor McDougall, adding that Carney “has to show that he is advocating for the country.” He said, “It’s difficult to talk about restarting trade negotiations when it’s still unclear where they are headed and what form they will take.” In Professor McDougall’s view, much of Carney’s public support stems from the perception that he “acts rationally.” This contrasts sharply with Canadians’ perception of Trump.
(The above views are from a New York Times analysis published on December 12th.)
