When Donald Trump threatened to apply a 25% tariff to both Canada and Mexico on the first day of his administration, the biggest mistake the Government of Canada made was thinking, ‘Oh this is a Mexican problem, it has nothing to do with Canada.’Thus, leading Canadian economist Jack Mintz, tonight’s guest on Hannaford..“That’s wrong,” says Mintz. “There are things we should be doing. We should be ensuring that our border is tighter and more secure. We should be worried about potential terror threats coming through Canada into the US, especially when we’re responsible for most of the terror suspects apprehended by the US border agency. When it comes to fentanyl, and the production of it here, we have a responsibility not only to the United States but also to ourselves and to prevent the drug abuse and the horrible deaths that happen here.”What then are the options?“Canada has no choice but to do a deal with Donald Trump,” says Mintz. “One option is that we do nothing and even retaliate. But that’s not going to do anything and we will in fact end up hurting ourselves. The other option is, kind of, make a deal. And getting control over our border is not such a bad thing anyway.”In the course of a twenty-minute conversation, Mintz talks about whether Trump would be restrained by fears that imposing tariffs on Canadian products would hurt Americans, who would be obliged to pay more for oil, gas, lumber and motor cars.He also takes on Canada’s somewhat deluded self-image as a nation of free-traders. Can supply management in dairy products survive negotiations with Trump?And Prime Minister Trudeau’s decision to clamp down on Alberta’s energy exports has left Canada with limited options to sell oil and therefore largely reliant upon US markets. As this weakens his hand in negotiations, does Mr. Trudeau now regret cancelling and discouraging these projects?Mintz says not. To see why, check in to Hannaford tonight, at 7:00pm.
