Not really but he and Biden both pleaded national security crisis to do it. It can be contested with WTO.
I know Trudeau gave him a firm handshake once. That’s probably enough to set him off.
I think the underlying reason is Trump resents Trudeau’s good looks.
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You’re right. For steel (in general) Canada is #1
EU is probably #2/#3 (if you take Germany, Italy, Netherlands etc)
I was looking at another category (my bad). That also means that Brazil and Mexico will also be impacted.
Here is the 2023 list.
I hate to say this…but if you look at the data it does look like Trump has declared economic war on Canada.
There is simply no way his advisors have not told him which countries would impacted the most (Trudeau could be a small factor…I do agree there).
This is very likely to end up in a full blown global trade war.
Not sure what the WTO would do as Trump would just stall it for years (its what he always does when he stiffs people and companies).
That or the giggling in Canada and Mexico over how they rolled him on the 25% tariffs last week.
And Mexico is a major supplier of both of them to the US. Trump really picking on Canada and Mexico
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Mostly as a joke but I often see this referenced as the reason:
We all know a freeze-frame can be deceiving, I still laugh.
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Trump’s end game is for the US to annex Canada: he is waging economic war on Canada in an attempt to damage our economy and persuade Canadians they are better off financially by joining the USA.
The problem with Trump’s approach is that it has poisoned Canada’s attitudes towards the USA. No matter how this ends, the relationship has been permanently damaged. There will be no shaking of hands at the end of this battle. Canada sees this is as an existential threat to its independence.
Canada may be a bit poorer financially through its breaking of ties with the US but that is the price to pay to continue to exist as a country. Canada did not have a free trade agreement with the US until 1988 and we did alright as a country before then. The US and Canada will continue to buy what they need from each other but the economies will no longer be integrated. For example, rather than an integrated US-Canada car industry we will just buy our cars from the cheapest source or have a small domestic car industry.
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This. If I were a Canadian or Mexican politician I would not bother renegotiating the USMCA trade agreement. Trump is not honouring the existing agreement so why bother to renegotiate it? Let it lapse.
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Australia lost there car industry and my impression is it’s improved affordability as there’s no point in placing tariffs on cars in general. I think there’s still a luxury tax on big personal vehicles.
ETA: seems like another spot where his tariff plan backfires. It cuts market share for US firms, leading to job losses. It also creates the option for Canada to place large tariffs on U.S. aircraft producers…
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A lot of major countries have largely lost their domestic car manufacturing industry. Given the billions of dollars of taxpayer subsidies that Canada pours into that industry I wonder how major a loss it would be to the overall Canadian economy.
Our purchases of defence equipment will undoubtedly soar in the coming decade. I can see those purchases shifting from US to European suppliers if we can enhance our European exports as a result.
Interesting article below on an Australian view of its free trade agreement with the US. As cynical as my view of Canada’s trading relationship with the US.
It’s worth remembering that the provision permitting Canadian actuaries to work in the US with a minimum of bureaucratic fuss (i.e. TN status) is a component of the treaty formerly known as NAFTA.
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What makes you think there is anything sacred about that provision? Canadians taking jobs away from Americans should be viewed by Trump as the same for actuaries as for steelworkers.
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I don’t think there’s anything sacred.
I have the equivalent status in Canada. I was uncomfortable when Trump 1.0 was targeting NAFTA, despite drawing some comfort that cross-border actuaries was a thing even pre-NAFTA.
Today, I’m uncomfortable with the implications to US actuarial work (and work within my multinational employer) if that were to go away.
I think that the US will keep slicing off links to the outside world.
Primarily because ROW will fight back and he will double and triple down.
I would be concerned if I had a TN Visa in the US and I was Canadian. Same thing in the opposite direction because while Trump will act first, reciprocity will be applied by Canada as a response.
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At least one Canadian party leader wants to target Elon. Good for you Jagmeet! I am tired of seeing so many Teslas in my neighbourhood.
I just passed a Cybertruuuuhk on my way home. The Homer was a better designed car!!! 
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