Andrew Treusch

Respectfully, Mr. Navarro, this is not a complete or persuasive account of Canada–U.S. trade. Canada’s supply-management system is fair grounds for debate. But citing a headline tariff of 298.5% without explaining that it generally applies only after negotiated import quotas have been exceeded leaves out essential context. Much of the qualifying trade enters at low or zero tariffs. More importantly, one protected sector does not justify dismantling an integrated continental trading relationship. President Trump negotiated CUSMA, signed it and described it as a historic victory. Congress then approved it on an overwhelmingly bipartisan basis. American businesses invested and organized their supply chains around those rules. Tariffs on Canadian energy, aluminum, lumber, fertilizer and automotive components are paid initially by American importers. They raise input costs for American factories, homebuilders, farmers and consumers. Making American production more expensive does not make American manufacturing more competitive. You also continue to describe the bilateral trade balance as though it were a corporate profit-and-loss statement. It is not. The United States imports Canadian resources because American companies need them to produce higher-value goods. Purchasing oil, potash, aluminum or electricity from a close ally is not evidence that America has been “robbed.” Your credibility on these questions also deserves fair scrutiny. You cited “Ron Vara” as an expert in multiple books, despite that person being a fictional character and an anagram of your own name. You later projected that Trump’s tariffs would raise $6 trillion, while serious independent estimates placed potential revenue at less than half that amount—and even those revenues ultimately come from taxes imposed on American importers. Your contempt-of-Congress conviction, four-month prison sentence and the subsequent appellate ruling upholding that conviction are not, by themselves, answers to your economic claims. But they are part of a public record that makes lectures about credibility and institutional responsibility difficult to accept without question. Canada is not beyond criticism, and neither country benefits from pretending every Canadian policy is perfect. But an honest debate requires context, consistent standards and recognition that these two economies were deliberately integrated under an agreement your own administration negotiated. Canada did not force the United States to sign CUSMA. Donald Trump promoted it, Congress ratified it and American companies relied upon it. Breaking that framework and raising costs for American producers is not economic strength. It is a self-inflicted wound being marketed as toughness. We should be improving the agreement as partners—not impoverishing workers and damaging factories on both sides of the border to sustain a political narrative. #CUSMA #USMCA #CanadaUS #Trade #Tariffs #Manufacturing #Economy