When Donald Trump threatened Canada with 25% tariffs — which would devastate the Canadian economy — he said it was to get Canada to act on his concerns related to border security and drug trafficking. Some said, well, do as he asks and make the problem go away. I and many others insisted Trump’s demand were only pretexts. Give Trump what he wants and he’ll only find new pretexts. dgardner.substack.com/p…

So far, the Canadian government has struck with the “give him what he wants” camp.

It’s still far too early to judge conclusively, but the evidence isn’t encouraging: “A senior Canadian official, however, said the Americans remain fixated on Canada’s trade deficit with the United States and feel it needs to shrink.”