By the Toledo Tribune
Now folks, when a prairie boy slaps a grizzly bear, he’d best have a faster horse than conscience or pride. And Canada—humble, quiet, reasonable Canada—has gone and slapped a bear. Not just any bear, but that red one in the East that eats steel, breathes fire, and owns half the globe’s electronics.
It all started with Canada deciding it had had enough of cheap Chinese electric vehicles gliding into the market like they owned the place. Now, you and I might agree—nobody likes being undercut by some subsidized wonder-wagon that costs less than a decent lawn mower. So in October last, the Canadian government did what governments do when they get fed up: they reached for the tariff stick and swung hard.
A 100% tax on Chinese electric vehicles, they said, followed by a hearty 25% on Chinese steel and aluminum. All in the name of protecting “strategic industries,” which is government-speak for “stuff we used to be good at.”
Now, if you think China took that lying down, you must’ve missed the last twenty years of international diplomacy. China doesn’t lie down—not unless it’s to plan the next five moves on the trade chessboard. And sure enough, in March, they clapped back.
100% tariffs on Canadian rapeseed oil, oil cakes, and peas. 25% on aquatic goods and pork. That’s right—lobster, salmon, bacon, all caught in the crossfire of what used to be a quiet trade. You could almost hear the sighs from Nova Scotia to the Prairies, as farmers and fishermen realized their goods were now political weapons in somebody else’s duel.
The Canadian government called China’s move “unjustified.” The Chinese government called Canada’s first punch “a violation of WTO rules.” And somewhere in Geneva, a World Trade Organization official rubbed his temples and wondered whether anybody reads the rulebook anymore.
And here’s the kicker: not one word of this fracas made it into the Prime Minister’s latest lament about Canada’s friendships. This same week, he looked south, called America “no longer a friend,” and painted a picture of cold partnerships and cool diplomacy. And yet—not a whisper about the biggest trading slap-fight happening right under his parliamentary nose.
The hard truth? When even Canada takes up the tariff torch, it’s a sign that the era of polite economics is over. The global dinner table has become a poker game where everyone’s bluffing, and nobody’s sharing the biscuits anymore.
So buckle up, folks. The world’s no longer trading in peace pipes and polite letters—it’s trading in taxes and tongue lashings. And if you want a fair deal, you might just have to fight for it.
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