Trump has threatened punitive tariffs on imported goods and vowed to bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States, N.Y. Times reports.
While President Trump has reserved his harshest words on trade for Mexico and China, Canada, one of America’s closest allies, has emerged as a major pressure point on trade, with the countries’ leaders trading barbs over lumber, dairy products, airplanes, and even magazine paper.
In the latest move, the Trump administration imposed a huge tariff on a new aircraft made by Montreal’s Bombardier to compensate for what it deemed unfair subsidies by Canadian governments.
The focus on Canada reflects the complexities that Mr. Trump faces in remaking the global rules of trade.
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He has threatened punitive tariffs on imported goods and vowed to bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States. He has promised to level the playing field with China and Mexico.
But aggressively targeting China could disrupt the global supply chain, raising costs for American manufacturers. It could also inflame geopolitical tensions at a time when Washington needs Beijing’s help in dealing with North Korea.
Relations with Mexico are already beleaguered over clashes on immigration, while taking on trade often means taking on exports from plants owned by American corporations.
The sheer volume of trade with Canada makes it an easy target for actions against individual companies or industries. And the economy’s relatively small size, along with its economic and military dependence on the United States, gives Canada little strength for punching back.
The Bombardier case is just one in a long series of trade-related actions. Canada is rehashing the North American Free Trade Agreement, throwing the future of its businesses and workers into flux. The United States has imposed duties on softwood lumber, one of Canada’s most iconic exports, while weighing measures that would clamp down on Canadian exports of steel, aluminum and solar panels.
“Canadians view this as poking Canada in the eye,” said Jerry Dias, the head of Unifor, the country’s large private sector union, which represents some Bombardier workers. “Canadians who view the U. S. as our natural ally are now wondering what’s going on.”
The trade case against Bombardier, which was brought by the American aerospace giant Boeing, is typically a dry and routine affair. It centers on government subsidies and accusations of unfairly low sales prices.
But now trade is politically charged.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada has asked the American president to intervene to persuade Boeing to drop the case against Bombardier. Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain joined the chorus of criticism against the United States, since the wings for the aircraft, the C Series, are made in Northern Ireland. It also soured the mood for the latest round of Nafta negotiations, which finished on Wednesday in Ottawa.
Speaking from the conclusion of the talks, Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s foreign affairs minister and the lead minister on the Nafta talks, said the country would “fight very, very hard” when it came to Bombardier.
