🇨🇦 Carney’s genius move may have helped Trump

Ottawa slapped 50 per cent counter-tariffs on U.S. goods, and now even trade lawyers are warning Carney may have handed Trump a cleaner legal excuse for his own tariff war. That is the level of statesmanship on offer: theatrical retaliation first, consequences later. As reported, the argument is that Canada’s explicitly discriminatory counter-tariffs could strengthen Trump’s case under old U.S. tariff law tied to Smoot-Hawley.

So while Mélanie Joly sells this as leverage for future talks, the adults are pointing out that tariffs and counter-tariffs just make both countries poorer and Canada’s legal position weaker. Classic Ottawa brain fog: posture for domestic applause, then discover the Americans actually have lawyers too. Carney’s people love talking about rules-based order when it means lecturing citizens, but when Canada’s national interest demands competence, they reach for optics, slogans, and damage control. Sovereignty is not performative chest-thumping followed by a worse negotiating hand.

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