\n<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON — <\/span>The United States and Canada have wrangled for decades over trade, poking each other interminably over sore spots like Canadian softwood lumber imports and U.S. access to Canada\u2019s protected dairy market.<\/p>\n Somehow the two neighbors still managed to remain friends, allies \u2014 and trading partners. Canadian soldiers fought alongside Americans in Afghanistan after 9\/11. The 5,525-mile U.S.-Canada border is undefended, and nearly 330,000 people<\/a> and $2 billion dollars\u2019 worth of goods cross it every day; 800,000 Canadians live in the United States.<\/p>\n President Donald Trump\u2019s belligerent approach to dealing with Canada marks an extraordinary departure from the traditionally cooperative relationship between the two countries. Trump has hit Canadian goods with tariffs \u2014 in a push to bring manufacturing back to the United States \u2014 and has repeatedly made inflammatory comments about turning Canada into America\u2019s 51st state.<\/p>\n The Canadian public is fed up. A petition to expel the U.S. ambassador, a Trump ally, has collected nearly 218,000 signatures since July 21. It accuses Ambassador Pete Hoekstra of having \u201cnormalized\u2019\u2019 Trump\u2019s talk of annexing Canada, among other things.<\/p>\n Tension could hit new heights at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday if Trump goes ahead with his plan to impose 50% tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian products, ranging from hockey sticks to tongue depressors.<\/p>\n As the deadline approaches, the two countries are seeking a truce that would avoid the new round of tariffs.<\/p>\n \u2033We are negotiating,\u201d Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told reporters Monday, speaking in French. \u201cThe negotiations are very intense and delicate. This is not the time to talk about negotiations in public.\u201d<\/p>\n Nearly 72% of Canadian goods<\/a> exports last year went to the United States. And the Trump administration might be wary of imposing a hefty new tariff \u2014 paid by U.S. importers who try to pass along the cost to consumers via higher prices \u2014 ahead of November\u2019s midterm elections. American voters are already frustrated with the high cost of living.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think either side really wants these tariffs to come into effect,\u2019\u2019 said Ryan Majerus, a partner at King & Spalding and a former U.S. trade official. \u201cThere\u2019s a pretty strong push on both sides to find an off ramp here.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n Majerus said the United States is aiming to get Canada to buy more U.S. military equipment, including F-35 fighters; to take part in Trump\u2019s \u201cGolden Dome\u2019\u2019 missile defense; and to give the United States more access to critical minerals, thereby reducing America\u2019s reliance on tenuous supplies from geopolitical rival China.<\/p>\n The Canadians would like relief from U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum as well as softwood lumber, which America says receives unfair government subsidies.<\/p>\n Trump has made tariffs the centerpiece of his second-term economic agenda. Last year, he imposed double-digit import taxes on almost every country on earth, justifying them by declaring the longstanding U.S. trade deficit a national emergency. The Supreme Court in February ruled that he\u2019d overstepped his authority, striking down those tariffs and setting the stage for the federal government to pay refunds to importers.<\/a><\/p>\n Trump immediately looked for other ways to rebuild his tariff wall. Last month, he imposed import taxes of 10% to 12.5% on 59 countries and the European Union<\/a> \u2014 which together account for 99% of U.S. imports \u2014 for allegedly failing to have or to enforce restrictions on imports made from forced labor.<\/p>\n Then he reached back to the Great Depression to find a cudgel with which to whack Canada, one of his favorite targets.<\/p>\n Trump invoked Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 to impose 50% tariffs on products that account for about 5% of Canadian exports to the United States.<\/p>\n Nearly a century ago, with the U.S. and world economies in collapse, Congress passed the 1930 tariff law, imposing hefty taxes on imports from around the world. Known as the Smoot-Hawley tariffs, for their congressional sponsors, they are notorious among economists and historians for limiting world commerce and making the Great Depression worse.<\/p>\n Section 338 tariffs have never been used before. U.S. trade negotiators traditionally have favored another tool, Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 \u2014 the provision Trump invoked for last month\u2019s forced-labor tariffs.<\/p>\n Section 338 authorizes the president to impose tariffs of up to 50% on imports from countries that have discriminated against U.S. businesses. Unlike Section 301 sanctions, no investigation is required. Nor is there any limit on how long the tariffs can stay in place.<\/p>\n In announcing the Section 338 tariffs, Trump claimed that Canada discriminates against American exports of autos, alcohol and cheese. Trump is angry because Canada and China were the only countries that punched back with retaliatory tariffs of their own when he slapped levies on their products last year.<\/p>\n \u201cIf a country retaliates against us, we\u2019re obviously not going to tolerate that,\u201d U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told reporters Friday at the Iowa State Fair. \u201cWe\u2019ll take action. My sense is the Canadians, they want to have a more conciliatory approach, but we\u2019ll see.\u201d<\/p>\n