50% tariffs? NYT: Canada’s… retaliatory tariffs will have the effect of a pea shooter in a gun battle

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COGwriter

Donald Trump’s bullying tactics against Canada have resulted in Canada taking steps that do not seem to be in its best interest. Here is an article about that from ZeroHedge which also quoted the New York Times:

Canada Retaliates, Slaps $20 Billion In Tariffs On 700 US Goods

August 25, 2026

Days after the US hit Canada with a 50% tariff on $20 billion worth of Canadian goods amid a collapse in trade talks – and a Monday threat to include cars, trucks, auto parts and steel, Canada hit back on Tuesday – announcing retaliatory tariffs as high as 50% on $20 billion worth of American products. …

The retaliation was expected following warnings by Prime Minister Mark Carney – a former central banker, who said that Canada would match US tariffs “dollar for dollar,” though he admitted that the move “will raise costs and reduce choice for Canadians,” NYT reports.

One of the major sources of tension in the trade negotiations was the United States’ 25 percent tariff on automobiles, a major export for Canada, introduced about 18 months ago. On Tuesday Canada said it would keep its retaliatory tariff on American-made cars at 25 percent and maintain a system that allows companies that build cars in Canada to continue to import them from the U.S. tariff-free, within limits. Canadians buy more cars from the United States that they ship there. -NYT

Canada imports around $272 billion in US goods annually – while Carney’s government says it will spend far more on keeping Canadian exporters solvent than it will bring in from the tariff, so ouch.

Or as the NYT frames it; “because Canada’s economy is about one-twelfth the size of the U.S. economy, its retaliatory tariffs will have the effect of a pea shooter in a gun battle.” https://www.zerohedge.com/political/canada-retaliates-slaps-20-billion-tariffs-700-us-goods

I suspect that Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney felt that, politically and tactically, he had to say “No” to the USA publicly at least one.

And this is another way to do that. He probably also hopes that with the USA mid-terms coming up that some in the Trump Administration will realize that this could cost one or more Republican seats in Congress.

But, as the New York Times pointed out, Canada does not have the power to fight the USA well economically. Presuming no TACO (Trump Always Chickens Out), Canada will not very far from now, to some degree, bend the knee again to the USA.

A reader sent me a link to the following:

24 August 2026

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has threatened to cut electricity and critical minerals to the US if President Donald Trump continues to escalate his trade war with Canada, drawing an angry response from Trump.

The exchange came hours after Trump announced that tariffs on Canadian cars, trucks, auto parts, and steel would rise to 50% on January 1, 2027. The move followed the collapse of trade talks last week and a separate 50% tariff that took effect Saturday on around $20 billion worth of Canadian imports.

“Everything’s on the table. I’ll do whatever it takes,” Ford told AP on Monday, saying Ontario could raise electricity prices or halt exports altogether.

“We power 1.5 million homes and businesses,” he added, warning that if Trump keeps trying to dismantle Canadian manufacturing, “he better have a pack of batteries.”

Trump fired back on Truth Social, dismissing Ford’s comments as “bluster” and personally attacking the premier before warning Canadian leaders to “fall in line.” https://www.rt.com/news/644608-trump-canada-electricity-ford/

Here is something I posted here in March of 2025:

Canada is in a precarious position these days and Donald Trump seems willing to try to cause Canada a lot of economic pain to get it to accede to his demands. Canada’s economy is highly dependent upon the USA’s economy, not the other way around.  Some American’s see Donald Trump’s actions as overdue, whereas others see bullying and other unsavory tactics being used. (Thiel B. Canada’s new PM & hurting feelings of foreigners via Donald Trump’s presidency. COGwriter, March 10, 2025)

Yes, Donald Trump has used the threat of pain as part of his bullying tactics.

Why?

Because he thinks he can.

And while he can, to a degree, do not think that there is no cost to that.

There is.

The Trump Administration continues to push friends and others to question being allies.

What has been happening is consistent with setting up the following to be fulfilled:

1 How lonely sits the city
That was full of people!
How like a widow is she,
Who was great among the nations!
The princess among the provinces
Has become a slave!

2 She weeps bitterly in the night,
Her tears are on her cheeks;
Among all her lovers
She has none to comfort her.
All her friends have dealt treacherously with her;
They have become her enemies. (Lamentations 1:1-2)

The USA continues to push nations away from it.

Canada has made several overtures to the European Union related to these matters (e.g. see First ever EU-Armenia summit–50 nations including Canada meet for European Political Community and European Union and Canada coordinating digital identification scheme?)–and some in the EU have interest in Canada (e.g. European Council President António Costa in Serbia and pushing for speeding entrance of Balkan states into the EU; Plus Finland’s President proposed inviting Canada to the European Union).

Donald Trump has bullied Canada and many others.

Newton’s Third Law of Motion is for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

In the case of Donald Trump there continue to be unintended consequences of his statements, threats, and actions.

Donald Trump is getting many nations, and not just Canada, looking to trade more with Europe and and others.

More and more are trying to figure out how to thrive with less trade with the USA.

That is an unintended consequence of Donald Trump’s tariff and trade policies.