Mr. Carney seems all alone in the trade world, tilting at Mr. Trump’s tariffs fortress. But appearances can be deceptive. Even though EU leaders will not publicly join his anti-Trump crusade, they are endorsing him in more subtle ways. Evidence came on Wednesday, when the prime minister’s office said that he will attend the EU’s State of the Union address to be given by EU President Ursula von der Leyen on Sept. 16 in Strasbourg, reports Eric Reguly in the Globe and Mail.

The next day, he will address the EU parliament. It’s impossible to imagine that Mr. Trump would receive the same invitation (the last U.S. president to address the parliament was Ronald Reagan, in 1985). Canada’s attempted pivot to Europe is building momentum, doubly so after Mr. Trump hit Canada with 50 per cent tariffs on a broad range of goods on Saturday. “My sense is that there is a lot of international respect for Carney standing up to Trump even if there is reluctance of foreign leaders to come out with full-voice support for him,” said Canadian international trade lawyer Lawrence Herman.

[…] The likelihood of Canada buying – and building – Sweden’s Saab Gripen fighter jet got a big boost when Mr. Trump ramped up his trade war against Canada last week. Why reward him by buying more U.S.-made F-35 fighter jets?

There are so many more areas where Canada and Europe could increase their ties, from liquefied natural gas and critical metals to aerospace components and fertilizer. It will happen, perhaps more slowly than Canada wants – but it will happen. The world needs what Canada has in abundance in the ground. Canada will be rewarded, not with cheers, but with contracts.