CUSMA: Ford Isn't Tough Enough!

If Ford reads this, he might get a bit of a chuckle. My position is crystal clear: dollar-for-dollar tariffs won't do the job. Ford is correct when he says that what Trump only respects (and fears) is strength. DFD just won't cut the mustard. What we have to do in the short to medium term is to make both American and Canadian companies suffer. That means putting comprehensive tariffs on all CUSMA-compliant imports manufactured in the United States. That's the only way to get the business lobby to go berserk and threaten Trump unless that asshole drops all North American tariffs. Put another way, Canadian businesses must be prohibited from importing anything from the United States as long as tariffs remain on the agenda, and by extension, reprisal tariffs must also serve to prevent ninety-nine percent of American sales to Canadian companies. Period. Both countries need to be hit as hard as possible to permanently deep-six Trump's tariffs.

Here's an "example" of Trump's thinking: his final position is that he wants one yard from Canada. Then, if Canada unilaterally removes or reduces some of its retaliatory tariffs, suddenly the new goalpost is set at three yards. And surprise, surprise, when we reach an accelerated or even a scheduled renegotiation of CUSMA in 2026, then Trump's goalpost will be at ten yards. It's blackmail and extortion from start to finish. That's the only way Trump operates, and Carney better not show a single moment of weakness, otherwise we're totally screwed tradewise for the next four years.