“As long as the president retains sole discretionary authority to impose tariffs, the threat remains. Remember that Canada had an agreement, incorporated into the current USMCA and ratified by Congress, to restrain the use of Section 232 tariffs. The failure of that agreement is a precedent to guide all future dealings with the U.S., including those conducted after Mr. Trump leaves office.”

“The lesson for Canada now facing a U.S. armed with “divide and conquer tariffs” is that Canadian solidarity, while strong, is not something governments can simply assume; it must be built by informing Canadians of what is at stake,” write Carlo Dade and Sean Willett at the Globe and Mail.

“Canadians seem willing to accept that one province may sometimes have to give something up for another, but they want to know the bargain is reciprocal: who is carrying the cost, who benefits, and what comes back to the province making the concession. Without that clarity, what is meant to look like a national strategy can quickly feel like one province being asked to take one for the team. That’s a guaranteed winning proposition for a U.S. administration hostile to Canada.”