President Donald Trump’s trade fight with Canada isn’t about our northern neighbor not playing fair. Rather, it’s the story of a bumbling president desperate for a win. He sees Canada as a weak economic target and thinks he can crush it. 

A bully’s gonna bully. But Trump’s intimidation tactics haven’t worked very well lately.  

His war on Iran, which Trump predicted would be won in two or three weeks, has entered its sixth month with no resolution in sight. Russia’s war against Ukraine, which Trump said multiple times that he could end on his first day in office, has dragged on for more than four years. Greenland is still a Danish territory despite Trump’s repeated threats to use military force, if necessary, to acquire it. 

Inflation remains stubbornly high. Americans are fed up with the escalating cost of food, gasoline and housing. Trump has no answers except to continually blame his predecessor, former President Joe Biden. 

So what does he do? Engage the United States in what could become a dangerous, all-out trade war with a country that long has been one of our most-valued economic partners. 

It’s reminiscent of Michael Moore’s 1995 comedy, “Canadian Bacon.” The movie tells the story of an unpopular president who tries to boost his moribund approval rating by engaging in a cold war with Canada. “Surrender pronto, or I’ll level Toronto,” the U.S. president, played by Alan Alda, threatened. Almost as farcical, Trump has signed an executive order renaming Lake Ontario to “Lake America.”  

The U.S. and Canada called off trade talks just hours before 50% tariffs on $20 billion of Canadian exports to the U.S. kicked in on Aug. 22, with both sides blaming each other for the failure to reach an agreement.

The tariffs will cost U.S. consumers more to buy hundreds of Canadian goods, including hockey sticks, dairy products and furniture. Three days later Canada retaliated with tariffs on $20 billion of U.S. goods, slated to start on Sept. 8. Tariffs will range from 15% to 50% on appliances, metals, lumber and hundreds of other products. Trump is threatening to double tariffs on all cars and auto parts imported from Canada to 50%, up from 25%, starting in January.  

The proposed tariffs likely violate the United States, Mexico, Canada free trade agreement, which Trump negotiated in 2020. But ignoring legalities is one of the president’s special talents. 

Trump claims Canada has been “ripping off” the U.S. for years. But the U.S. runs a trade surplus in nonenergy goods and services with Canada.  Michigan could pay a steep price for Trump’s reckless actions. Canada is Michigan’s largest trading partner with about $70 billion in goods flowing across their borders in 2024, the latest available data. Thousands of jobs are connected to Michigan auto parts manufacturers, farmers and others who export goods to Canada. 

Trump not only doesn’t care, he has said he would use “economic force” to cripple Canada and make it our 51st state. Vice President JD Vance reiterated that goal on August 24 when he said in a speech, “Canada is a state,” and then unconvincingly said he’d made “a Freudian slip.” 

The president has said on numerous occasions that he wants Detroit’s automakers to stop building cars and trucks in Canada and move that production to the U.S. Trump has repeatedly said the U.S. doesn’t need Canada for anything. (Funny, he has said the same thing about the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran is choking off critical oil supplies.)

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The president’s economic attacks on Canada are said to be personal. He had a contentious relationship with former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, which led to the president slapping tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum. The president’s dealings with current Prime Minister Mark Carney, the cerebral former central banker, aren’t much warmer.  After trade negotiations collapsed, Carney said Canada would never accept the idea that the country is a “subsidiary of the United States.” 

And Trump may have met his match in insult trading with bombastic Ontario Premier Doug Ford. “I have a lot of real estate on my ass, so (Trump) has a lot of room to kiss my ass,” Ford said after the trade talks failed. 

Ford also threatened to pull the plug on Ontario’s hydropower-generated electricity it sells to the U.S., an indication of just how serious the economic rift between Canada and the U.S. has become. Canada’s “elbow’s up” trade stance against Trump carries a great deal of risk for a country that has an economy one-twelfth the size of the U.S. economy.

Some experts say tariffs on their exports could price many Canadian companies out of the U.S. market, putting thousands of jobs at risk. But a savvy Carney is wisely cultivating new markets for Canadian goods and services around the globe. The U.S., he has said, “is no longer a reliable partner.” 

Canada and the U.S. have been friends and beneficial trading partners for centuries. It’s outrageous that a greedy, petulant U.S. president is doing his best to destroy that relationship.