Donald Trump has no intention of making concessions to Canada and only seeks to damage the image of his neighboring country for his political and economic benefit, believes a specialist in American politics.
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The new 50% tariffs announced by the President of the United States are another intimidation tactic from Trump, who continues to destroy the free trade agreements concluded between his country and Canada, according to Guillaume Lavoie, associate member of the Raoul-Dandurand Chair.
“He quite thoughtfully excludes things where it would immediately hurt the United States where the population would be directly affected, such as energy, uranium, natural gas and oil,” he said in an interview with LCN on Wednesday.
“He gives himself room to maneuver, but he’s a rascal. He does not have the beginning of the beginning of a piece of good faith because we have not one, but two agreements signed with Trump,” added the political analyst.
The latter is of the opinion that seeking any rationality on the part of the American president, by trying to find a concession that would satisfy him, is downright futile.
“For Trump, there is no concession that would bring him back into a different framework. The goal is how much I can extort from you now while waiting to extort more from you later. This is a very uncomfortable case for us. We will have to learn to play in this at least for the next two years,” argues Guillaume Lavoie.
According to associate member of the Raoul-Dandurand Chair, the American president especially wants to depend on Canada as a bad player who abuses its relationship with the United States.
This is also what he did earlier in his mandate by saying that the Americans did not need Canada.
“Explain that to New Yorkers that when there is electricity in their homes, it comes from Quebec. Explain that to Midwestern farmers that if they don’t have fertilizer, which comes from Canada, they won’t have any crops. Explain that, for example, in California when there are fires very soon, it is Canadian planes that will help put them out. Our economies are deeply interconnected. What is surreal here is that the president’s statements are disconnected from the real world,” argues Mr. Lavoie.
The specialist in American politics believes that the solution for Canada lies in its ability to mobilize American economic actors so that they force Donald Trump to listen to reason and back down.
“Just think of Budweiser and its aluminum cans. or Pepsi or Coke, they pay more for them because the United States has put tariffs in place on Canadian aluminum,” he relates.
To see the full interview, watch the video above.
