If Trudeau and Freeland were such geniuses, why didn’t they get the tariffs removed when the new NAFTA was signed?
When something bad happens, and then that bad thing continue for a year, and then ends, you end up back where you started.
It’s not an ‘improvement,’ and it’s not a win.
And when that bad thing happens on your watch, you don’t get to simultaneously take no responsibility for it happening and then take responsibility for it no longer happening.
Yet, that’s exactly what’s happening with the Trudeau government and their attempt to spin the end of US tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum as a ‘win.’
The tariffs were imposed on Trudeau’s watch, and he and Freeland failed to get them removed as a condition of signing the new NAFTA deal.
Then, the Trump Administration just recently decided to end the tariffs.
Both the initial tariff imposition and the end of the tariffs were unilateral moves by the Trump Administration, and both were related to China.
The original concern in the United States is that China dumps steel into countries like Canada, and then gets that steel into the United States by having it be considered ‘Canadian’ steel.
That hurts the US Steel Industry, which is a national security concern for the States since in the case of a significant war, the ability to produce vast amounts of steel is essential to building a strong military force.
Canada should also be concerned about China trying to wipe out our own steel industry, but few Canadian leaders have the guts to address that.
So, with the US concern with China being a key issue the tariffs were imposed, then it also needs to be said that US concerns with China are behind the end of the tariffs on Canada.
It’s no coincidence that Trump ended the tariffs on Canada just as the trade war between the US and China heats up.
The US is focusing their attention on the fight with China, which means wrapping up trade disputes with their allies like Canada.
And this is why Justin Trudeau and Chrystia Freeland look like such fools for trying to spin the end of the US tariffs on Canada as some sort of personal ‘win’ or achievement.
They had nothing to do with it. And they can’t somehow take credit for ending the tariffs when they took no responsibility for the tariffs not being removed in the past year.
The reality is simple, Justin Trudeau and Chrystia Freeland had nothing to do with the tariffs being lifted, and we can’t allow ourselves to be fooled into thinking otherwise.
Spencer Fernando
Photos – YouTube
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