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February 2, 2025

Yesterday, Trump imposed tariffs on a broad range of Canadian goods imported into the USA, all of which is in violation of the USMCA free trade agreement he negotiated during his previous administration. This betrayal shows once again that US leaders simply cannot live up to any deal they sign.

Since his re-election, Trump threatened to impose tariffs if Canada and Mexico did not strengthen their borders with the USA, alleging with barely-concealed racism that Mexico was the entry point of criminal elements flooding into the USA, while Canada was a source of illegal immigration and drugs. Trump went so far as to predict that Mexico would build a border wall at its own expense for the USA.

Actually what happened was that Canadian politicians scurried around embarrassingly trying to exempt Canada from the tariffs (trying to throw Mexico under the bus) while hardening the Canadian border with $1.3 b. (CAD) worth of helicopters and additional officers at our expense. On the other hand, Mexico’s new President Sheinbaum, in a dignified manner, simply announced that her country would respond to US tariffs with Mexican tariffs. No state governors in Mexico opposed her. Clearly, President Sheinbaum and her compatriots understand the importance of national sovereignty and have the independence to diversify their economy away from reliance on US markets towards other markets, such as China, Latin America, and BRICS.

Canada’s responses to Trump’s threats were riven with disunity and attempts at appeasement. Trying to play nice with the US bully, Justin Trudeau flew to Trump’s Mira Lago estate only to be insulted by Trump as the “governor” of Canada, which the US President later threatened to annex, along with plans to buy Greenland, and re-possess the Panama Canal. In Canada, provincial leaders such as Doug Ford of Ontario and Danielle Smith of Alberta, who lack the constitutional authority to deal with foreign affairs, decided to jump into the fray. Smith broke the unanimity of the Council of the (Canadian) Federation by flying to Mira Lago to seek an exemption for Alberta crude and by opposing retaliatory tariffs on US goods. Premier Ford presented himself as “Captain Canada”, wearing a baseball cap saying “Canada Is Not For Sale.” [Actually, Trump did not offer to buy Canada but rather to annex it.] But Ford does not have the power to negotiate for our country, though he called a snap election pretending he needed a mandate to do so.

Canadians, especially Canadian workers, should be concerned about Trump’s threat to use economic means to annex Canada. The US has used coercive economic measures (aka, economic sanctions) to bring about regime change in many countries, the latest of which was Syria. Swallowing up Canada would be a huge boost for the oligarchs who run the declining US empire but it would be a disaster for Canadians, resulting in the loss of many social programs (including universal healthcare), a decline in union rights, and environmental protection. US nuclear weapons would be installed on Canadian soil. Canadian youth would be subject to a military draft for US foreign wars, while all Canadians would pay enormously more for military expenditures for NATO and NORAD. A whole raft of issues regarding annexation including citizenship, the export of water, Quebec’s status as a nation, indigeneous rights, and the US lack of respect for international law, would boil to the surface.

Canadians should reply to Trump with one voice: No to annexation!

We support an economic policy that diversifies trade away from the USA and benefits our other trading partners, such as Mexico. We want to reduce military spending in favour of spending on social programs. We seek increased trade union rights (including expanded employment insurance) as well as environmental protection. We also demand an independent and peaceful foreign policy, outside of NATO, in cooperation with all the countries of the world.