If expanding a trade war with Canada makes you an “asshole,” Canada has been that asshole for a very long time.
1879: Canada’s National Policy jacked up tariffs on U.S. manufactured goods.
1930: After Smoot-Hawley, Canada raised tariffs on U.S. farm and metal products and gave lower rates to Britain and other Empire countries.
Late 1960s to today: Canada locked in dairy, poultry, and eggs with quotas and sky-high over-quota tariffs — about 245% on some cheese and nearly 300% on butter. FTA, NAFTA, and USMCA never tore those walls down.
Lumber: The softwood fight goes back to the 1980s. The U.S. argument is that Canada’s public-land stumpage system subsidizes Canadian lumber.
In my unfinished basement, the floor joists are stamped “MADE IN CANADA.” Yet Michigan and the rest of the United States are covered in timber.
The message from Democrats is: don’t cut our trees — cut theirs and import the wood.
This is exactly why lumber belongs in the tariff discussion. We should be producing more of that lumber here, using American resources and supporting American workers instead of becoming increasingly dependent on imported Canadian wood.
July 1, 2018: Canada slapped 25% on U.S. steel and 10% on aluminum, plus whiskey, ketchup, boats, and other goods — about C$16.6 billion.
March 2025: Canada put 25% on roughly C$30 billion of U.S. goods, then another 25% on C$29.8 billion after U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs. Auto tariffs followed. Some consumer items were later dropped. Steel, aluminum, and certain vehicles stayed.
Abdul El-Sayed is outraged that Trump used leverage on Canada. But he is fine with Canada’s dairy trade barriers and tariffs on American steel, aluminum, and cars.
Reducing 147 years of U.S.-Canada trade fights to “Trump is an asshole” isn’t analysis. It’s a campaign line.
El-Sayed doesn’t oppose protectionism. He just doesn’t like it when America uses it.
Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed is just another America-last Commie Democrat.
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