Canada’s chief negotiator has pointed out that the U.S. commerce secretary was not at the table when trade talks broke down nearly two weeks ago.
asserted
talks → point → table
Janice Charette’s point was that the truck issue was discussed repeatedly by negotiators in the room, a place where the commerce secretary was noticeable by his absence.
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secretary → discuss → absence
It seems highly likely that Lutnick was trying to repeat the tactic that worked for him over the Gordie Howe bridge negotiations by pushing for more advantageous terms at the 11th hour — in this case, exempting trucks from the tariff reduction on passenger cars.
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that → seem → cars
It didn’t work this time.
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It → work → ?
But if Lutnick was not in the negotiation room, by his own account, he was with Donald Trump when the president thought he had reached a deal with Prime Minister Mark Carney.
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he → think → Carney
By the afternoon of Friday the 21st, Canada was adding “crazy ideas” to the mix, Lutnick said.
“I said to one of their ministers: ‘Are you actually trying to blow this up?’
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you → add → this
His answer was: ‘I’m not allowed to say that’.”
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I → allow → that
Lutnick’s allegation is that the Canadians walked away for political reasons to do with the provincial election in Quebec and the independence referendum in Alberta.
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Canadians → walk → Alberta
For people who have clearly lost touch with morality, there is a curious sense of moral outrage among the senior figures of the Trump administration.
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who → lose → administration
They feel genuinely aggrieved that they were misled and disrespected by the Carney government.
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they → feel → government
But it should worry Canadians that their government’s account is at best ambiguous.
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account → worry → Canadians
The prime minister has told a version of the past that cannot be disproved by the available facts, but which places heavier emphasis on culture, language and sovereignty issues than the events may warrant.
uncertain
events → tell → issues
The public still trusts the prime minister, but his reputation for candour was dented by his version of the Gordie Howe bridge-funding deal and it may take further hits as accounts of how the talks broke down continue to trickle out.
uncertain
talks → trust → hits
Strategic ambiguity was his stock in trade as a bank governor trying not to show his hand on the direction of future interest rates.
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ambiguity → try → rates
It is a linguistic approach less suited to politics.
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It → suit → politics
This is not to suggest that Trump does not covet Canada and is not seeking to destroy its auto industry.
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Trump → suggest → industry
Carney’s campaign slogan that the president is trying to break us so he can own us resonated because it is accurate.
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it → try → us
But at the negotiating table, a deal was reached that would have withstood U.S. inquiries about the discoverability of French-language shows on Netflix and its interest in aligning future trade agreements.
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that → negotiate → agreements
(As U.S. trade negotiator Jamieson Greer pointed out, the existing CUSMA agreement includes a provision which gives the U.S. influence over future deals with non-market players.)
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which → point → players
The deal-breaker was autos, and Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s refusal to put American booze back on the shelves in his province if Canada signed on to a 15 per cent auto tariff.
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Canada → put → tariff
As one Canadian official told me: “We really pulled out because Ford was not on board.”
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Ford → tell → board
Ford admitted as much appearing on ABC over the weekend, when he said negotiations stopped after he told Carney it was “a terrible deal for Canada.”
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it → admit → Canada
A senior industry figure suggested that Lutnick’s last-minute change on heavy-duty trucks was grasped by the federal government as a pretext for walking away.
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change → suggest → pretext
The source suggested that the Carney government was willing to sign on to the deal because it has given up on the auto industry in Canada.
uncertain
it → suggest → Canada
He said that Trump’s Jan. 1 delayed deadline for increasing auto tariffs to 50 per cent is to give Honda and Toyota time to announce expansion plans in the U.S., at the expense of Canadian production.
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deadline → say → production
Another auto sector source said that is incorrect and Ottawa is still fighting to keep the industry in Canada.
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Ottawa → say → Canada
While the Japanese car giants are indeed planning to expand in the U.S., the source said both companies are committed to Canada, in part because of lower costs on certain things, such as employee health care.
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companies → plan → care
Toyota is understood to be talking to the federal government about additional investments, the source said.
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source → understand → investments
It is a tangled web, and it is hard to see how it resolves itself.
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it → see → itself
Tiff Macklem, the Bank of Canada governor, said on Wednesday that he does not expect the U.S. tariffs to have a large direct impact on the overall level of economic activity in Canada, given they cover just five per cent of exports south.
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they → say → exports
But he noted an upside risk to the bank’s inflation forecast because of tariffs and persistently high oil prices.
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he → note → tariffs
No one typifies the debasement of American intelligent society to accommodate the unique stupidity of the Trump years like Scott Bessent, the treasury secretary.
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one → typify → Bessent
But he is probably right in saying the Canada-U.S. trade spat will only be resolved by direct talks between the president and the prime minister.
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spat → say → president
Those talks should probably wait until after the Alberta referendum asking about separation on Oct. 19.
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talks → wait → Oct.
By that time, the silent enemy of economic growth — inflation — may be imposing itself, and both sides may be more willing to provide more stable market access.
uncertain
sides → impose → access
Any negotiated settlement would give way to an uneasy peace, given Trump’s tendency to renege on every deal he’s ever signed.
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he → negotiate → deal
But it would be an improvement on the circular firing squad the two countries have currently assembled.
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countries → assemble → squad
