Link to article: https://apnews.com/article/trudeau-trump-tariffs-trade-war-58eaa333ef96d4f17965bb7004e6bee7
On last Thursday, February 27th, the US indicated they would postpone their substantial tariffs on Canadian products. However Canada has not taken down their retaliatory tariffs and they plan to continue to follow through on them. They have stated that they will hold their stance on their tariffs until the unjustified American tariffs are lifted. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that he sees the US and Canada being in a trade war for the foreseeable future, after his “colorful and constructive” call with US President Donald Trump this past week. However he then went on to add that both sides are to continue to work together to ensure the tariffs don’t become overly harmful. Trump also launched a trade war with the US’s two other biggest trade partners; Mexico and China. In an interview the US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that Trump will likely suspend the 25% tariff on most Mexican and Canadian imports for a month. That was the indication referenced at the start of this paragraph. This suspension is meant to “likely cover” all goods and services in the USMCA trade agreement President Trump had negotiated last term. In Trudeau’s response he said, “I am going to wait for an official agreement to talk about Canadian response or look at the details of it but it is a promising sign.”
This could be a way that the US is working to pull out of their foreign obligations and become more self reliant. It could be hinting that we are switching into more of an off shore balancing foreign policy. Trump even granted a one month suspension on tariffs to auto makers imploring them to move their manufacturing into the states so they could avoid the upcoming tariffs. Switching foreign policies is complex, especially when pulling out of foreign obligations. States need to make sure they will be able to function at the same level without their foreign obligations and I believe that is exactly what President Trump is aiming to do. However this plan may begin to fail. Despite Trump’s claim that the US does not need Canada, nearly a quarter of the oil America consumes per day comes from Canada, 60% of U.S. crude oil imports are from Canada, and 85% of U.S. electricity imports are from Canada.