🇨🇦 Mark Carney vs. The Tariff Tyrant: Canada Plans On Calling Trump’s Bluff

Mark Carney warns: No deal with the U.S. is worth selling out Canada’s sovereignty.

July 15, 2025

“There’s not a lot of evidence right now that the U.S. wants a deal without tariffs.”
— Prime Minister Mark Carney, calmly describing the full-blown economic mugging Donald Trump is trying to pass off as a trade negotiation.

Welcome to Tariffpalooza 2025, where Donald Trump is once again treating America’s allies like enemies and Canada like a punchline. The latest insult? A 35% across-the-board tariff on Canadian goods starting August 1 — because, apparently, the only way to "Make America Great Again" is by kicking your best friend in the teeth while taxing your own people.

But Canada’s not playing dead. Mark Carney, the grown-up in the room, is standing firm. And for once, we’ve got a leader who knows how global markets work — and won’t bend the knee to a sociopathic boomer with a golf cart and a god complex.

The Trump Tariff Escalation: From Annoying to Insane

Let’s rewind the carnage.

Since the early 2010s, Trump has tried to turn trade into a circus — tariffs on steel, aluminum, autos, lumber, copper, even pharmaceuticals. He slapped "national security" labels on maple syrup and dairy to justify punishing Canadian industries. And now, he’s threatening a 35% blanket tariff on all Canadian goods, whether we’re trading oil, fertilizer, or f**king snow tires.

Carney, speaking in French (a nice “F Trump” touch), reminded reporters that every single Trump trade deal — even with countries America runs surpluses with, like the UK — includes tariffs. The UK’s deal still has a 10% baseline tariff. That’s the starting point. Trump doesn’t do free trade. He does extortion in a red hat.

The Section 232 Tariff Scam

Trump’s favorite trick is invoking Section 232 of U.S. trade law — the “national security” loophole. It’s how he justifies tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminum, autos, and now copper and pharmaceuticals. You read that right: Canadian cars apparently threaten the U.S. more than Russian tanks.

The US doesn’t have copper mines, access to the same raw materials, or smelting facilities for Steel, and our Auto industry is fully integrated, so he’s actually creating a national emergency. Not us.

These tariffs have already killed Canadian jobs and crippled exports. The aluminum sector is bleeding. Auto plants are scaling back. Softwood lumber is still in the crosshairs. And Trump? He’s jacked up metal tariffs to 50%, with zero economic logic.

America’s Favorite Scapegoat

Trump’s letter to Carney last week was peak MAGA delusion:

"Canada is hurting American farmers. Canada is sending fentanyl into our country. Canada has refused to stop its anti-American trade practices."

Every claim is bulls**t.

• Fentanyl? U.S. Customs data shows less than 0.1% comes from Canada.

• Dairy quotas? The U.S. hasn't even filled the export caps we already gave them.

• Trade deficit? The U.S. runs a $63B trade surplus with Canada in actual goods and services.

Premier David Eby called Trump’s rant “factually wrong and completely flailing.” He’s being polite.

Mark Carney’s Retaliation Playbook

This isn’t 2018. Canada’s ready.

Carney’s government is holding fire on retaliatory tariffs — for now. But the ammo’s loaded:

• A 25% counter-tariff on U.S. steel and aluminum remains in place.

• Onshoring Steel and Aluminum, effectively blocking the US Steel industry from access to Canadian markets.

• Harsh border “countermeasures” around gun/drug smuggling from the US into Canada

• Auto tariffs of 25% are in place.

• $28 billion worth of U.S. goods were already hit with tariffs earlier this year.

• Plans to double tariffs to 50% were only paused after Trump extended the “deadline” to August 1.

If Trump pulls the trigger on 35%, Carney’s cabinet is expected to deliver a proportional hit — and possibly more — to the U.S. Food, retail, agriculture, and tech are all reportedly under review.

“We will only sign an agreement that’s in Canada’s best interest, and only that,” Carney said at the G7.
That’s how grown-ups talk.

Canada’s Quiet Strength

Here’s the part Trump can’t stand: Canada is still winning.

After Trump’s tariff tantrums, over 90% of Canadian exports are now fully USMCA-compliant — up from 38% two years ago. Our exporters did the paperwork. They adjusted. Now, Canadian goods flow tariff-free… as long as Trump doesn’t nuke the system.

Meanwhile, Carney is expanding Canada’s trade options — deepening partnerships with Europe, Japan, and the UK, and ramping up domestic manufacturing in critical sectors like pharma, autos, copper, and clean tech. Our economy isn’t just weathering the storm — it’s diversifying around the bully.

Trump Wants Chaos. Canada Wants Stability.

Trump’s version of trade is transactional chaos. He’s not trying to build alliances — he’s trying to squeeze concessions. Carney knows this game. And he’s not blinking.

As he put it:

“We need to stabilize the situation for Canada.”

That means protecting workers, shielding exporters, and keeping our economic sovereignty intact. It also means calling BS on Trump’s intimidation tactics — publicly, firmly, and in both official languages.