Vise President JD Vance described Prime Minister Mark Carney as a “very sweet guy” to an audience at a private fundraiser two days prior to the abrupt collapse of US-Canada trade negotiations. According to Vance, Carney “comes in and puffs his chest out and says: ‘I’m going to, like, out-tough Donald Trump.'” in a confidential audio tape that was leaked to the Canadian Press. The Canadians eventually “climb down on a lot of issues,” thus he called that strategy “hilarious.”
Perhaps Carney’s diplomats packed up and left for home over the weekend for reasons other than those remarks, which garnered a lot of attention in Canada. They did not, however, assist. Carney’s action provoked a new wave of tariffs between neighbours that do more than $872 billion (£640 billion) in bilateral commerce annually and abruptly ended discussions for a new trade pact.
Vance’s remarks and the severe and widening rift provide the most recent instance of a Trump administration prepared to use force on the international scene against both allies and adversaries, underscoring the potentially disruptive effects of such moves. Furthermore, Trump might have made a mistake if he believed that the Canadians would give in to American pressure, as many US friends have done over the last 19 months. And for the remainder of his term, the fallout from that error might be felt.
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