Since the end of The Second World War,
most of the world has been moving towards
more and more free trade. Free trade agreements
such as The EU, SAFTA, AFTA, AFCFTA and USMCA,
have all had an incalculable positive effect on their
respective economies.
Trump’s tariffs are obviously anti-free trade.
Virtually all economists know this – and so does the
Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney
Because Trump chooses to levy taxes in the form of
tariffs on Americans, does not mean Carney should
levy taxes in the form of retaliatory tariffs on Canadians.
One does not fight fire by burning one’s own house down!
Most importantly, the use of retaliatory tariffs sanctions
Trumps tariffs as a legitimate action. Politicians around
the world have come to a consensus – namely that we
must be seen to be doing something, hence retaliatory
tariffs, and thus going into battle on Trump’s terms.
Carney should do nothing, and he should use whatever
influence he has to convince The EU, The UK, Mexico and
even China to do the same; the rest of the world
would follow suit – leaving Trump alone with his tariffs.
Will Carney do this? He could if he could summon up
the courage and integrity of the man who said this –
(I’m paraphrasing) A leader does not follow or lead a
consensus; he molds a consensus – Martin Luther King.

Check out my post on free trade – a 2 minute read.

https://www.rationalselfinterest.com/post/free-trade