House of Representatives votes against Trump's tariffs on Canada, a symbolic victory...

It's nice to know we have friends in Washington but tariffs unlikely to lift.

There were 219 members of the House of Representatives who voted to rescind Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canada compared to 211 who voted against the move. It’s a nice symbolic gesture by almost all Democrats in the House and six Republicans but it’s highly unlikely the tariffs will lift.

In fact, Donald Trump has said he’d veto anything that came across his desk suggesting tariffs be lifted. On Wednesday, he took to Truth Social to blast those Republicans who voted to repeal tariffs and also to attack Canada as a bad trading partner.

Donald Trump loves tariffs and he’s not going to give them up without a fight, or a negotiated settlement of some sort.

That’s been clear for months, but our officials seem to think they can wait him out or count on the Supreme Court to overturn Trump’s tariffs.

It’s not too late for a winter getaway…

Why the Supreme Court case doesn’t matter very much for Canada…

There is a case before the U.S. Supreme Court on the constitutionality of Trump’s tariffs, but only some of them. Trump has invoked major tariffs under two different pieces of legislation, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act or IEEPA and under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act.

It’s the IEEPA tariffs that are before the Supreme Court, not Section 232 tariffs. So, even if the Supreme Court rules against Trump, that’s considered likely on the Polymarket prediction site, it won’t mean much for Canada.

Some of our products are being tariffed under IEEPA, but most enter the United States tariff free. That’s not the case with what are called the sectoral tariffs on things like autos, steel, aluminum etc, which were invoked under Section 232.

The only way to lift those tariffs, at this point, is with a negotiated settlement.

A timely book on a botched RCMP response to the Nova Scotia mass shooting…

You can’t negotiate with Trump…

Every single time I suggest that we get back to the table with Trump, I hear from people telling me he’s a maniac, or worse - often worse, and that you can’t negotiate with him. That’s normally coupled with a call to diversify away from the United States or abandon them all together as if that is even possible.

I’ve been advocating diversified trade for decades.

When I first arrived on Parliament Hill to cover politics full-time in 2005, I remember doing interviews about the importance of Canada signing more trade deals. Jim Peterson, who served as Paul Martin’s trade minister, sat for a radio interview with me ahead of his push for a trade deal with South Korea.

That’s a deal that Stephen Harper would eventually bring to fruition, but Peterson started the talks under Martin.

His critic at the time, Conservative MP Deepak Obhrai, would speak often of the need to focus on India’s growing economy, even over China’s, as a place for Canadian growth. We don’t have a full free trade deal with India yet, but the Harper government did move things forward.

In fact, under the Harper government we went from free trade deals with just 6 countries to deals with 45. Yet, here we are more than a decade after Harper left office and 75% of our exports still go to one market.

We do need to diversify trade, but that will take time and right now jobs and livelihoods are on the line. Which is why we need to get back to the table with the Americans and secure a deal with no tariffs, or at the least reduced tariffs.

At the same time we need to start pushing for increased trade with the 51 countries we now have free trade agreements with. We don’t need more agreements, we need to start trading with countries where an agreement is already in place.

That is an area where the federal government could step in to try and facilitate.

Get the podcast mic that I use and trust…

Trump says he might walk away from CUSMA…

Bloomberg was reporting on Wednesday that Trump is considering walking away from CUSMA all together. I’m not sure why that’s news, he’s talked about doing so many times, and in many ways, he already has by imposing tariffs on Canada and Mexico.

All of this is enough for some Canadians, as I mentioned earlier, to give up, throw their hands in the air and say they’ve had enough.

If you are comfortable, living in a home you paid off many years ago, drawing down on your investments squirrelled away in an S&P 500 Index Fund or top American tech stocks then maybe you can afford to think that way. For working stiffs who need to punch the clock each day, those in the productive economy that is reliant on trade, giving up is not an option and nor is waiting until diversification kicks in.

You don’t have to like Donald Trump, but you have to deal with him.

I’ve described Trump as that relative you’re going to see at family gatherings even though you’d rather not. You’ve got to take that sort of person as they are and figure out a way to make it work.

So, Mr. Carney, make it work.

Scotland, done properly…