Canadians may owe Howard Lutnick a debt of gratitude.
It was a final-hours intervention by the U.S. Commerce Secretary, who’s peculiarly belligerent toward Canada even by the standards of Donald Trump’s White House, which seemed to coincide with new American demands that scuppered the tentative trade agreement between the two countries.
If so, he did Canada a service by reminding Mark Carney and his negotiators who they were dealing with — and saving us from a bad deal that probably would’ve only looked worse down the road.
Trade deal restrictions with other partners like communist China are nothing new, Canada the US and Mexico all agreed to abide by them in CUSMA.
Grok says – Yes, in a limited way: Canada agreed to specific restrictions and conditions under Article 32.10 of CUSMA (also known as USMCA or T-MEC) regarding free trade agreements (FTAs) with “non-market countries i.e. China” There is no general ban on partnering with other nations.
I think word has gone out to the LPC’s media that Lutnick is to be the preferred whipping boy.
Good choice but not the cause of Canada’s woefully poor performance.
More … U.S.-Canada trade talks have collapsed. Carney says these 3 issues torpedoed them
The changes to Auto tariffs are a head scratcher.
Leaks during negotiations said a 15% tariff was agreed upon. A number many have pointed out would be slow suffocation to the auto industry but one Team Carney seemed willing to live with.
A slow death is preferable to sudden shock I agree and that seems to be the collateral damage Carney could accept because ChiCom EV’s!
And I don’t care about Quebec’s culture, the province is a drag on Canada.
