Opinion | Chrystia Freeland: We won’t back down to Donald Trump. The U.S. should brace for the biggest trade blow it has ever endured

 

Former Foreign Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland writes that Canada will not back down against threats made by incoming U.S. President Donald Trump.

Sebastian St-Jean/AFP via Getty Images; Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

At a time when President Donald Trump is threatening our country, it’s time to stand up for Canada.

We are a country by choice.

Canada exists because generations of Canadians have chosen to stand for Canada, to build Canada and to fight for Canada.

We first chose to be Canadian in 1867 when the Fathers of Confederation recognized the threat posed by a United States that was militarized by civil war and seized by the idea of Manifest Destiny.

Florida orange growers, Michigan dishwasher manufacturers and Wisconsin dairy farmers: brace yourselves. Canada is America’s largest export market — bigger than China, Japan, the U.K., and France combined. If pushed, our response will be the single largest trade blow the U.S. economy has ever endured.

Being smart also means understanding that tariffs work both ways. President Trump intends to fill America’s coffers with tariff revenues. We can do the same. Dollar-for-dollar retaliation could generate up to $150 billion over one year — representing 161 per cent of the Canadian government’s corporate tax revenue in 2022-2023.

If we are forced to retaliate, the $150 billion that Americans will pay to sell their goods to Canada is $150 billion we could use to help Canadians and businesses weather this essential fight. Just half of that revenue could provide nearly $2,700 in relief to every Canadian making less than $150,000 per year.

Finally, being smart means offering an attractive off-ramp. America has flourished in large part because of the security that comes from having a stable, friendly and prosperous neighbour along its vast northern border. Our trading relationship is balanced and mutually beneficial and buying energy from a democratic neighbour is safer than relying on a petro-dictator. Just ask the Germans.

https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/chrystia-freeland-we-wont-back-down-to-donald-trump-the-u-s-should-brace-for/article_45fa23a6-d453-11ef-a911-0b6bb6841f5d.html