Mark Carney will be meeting with Donald Trump, in Washington, this week. The Carney government is setting low expectations for the meeting. The Canadian steel industry and aluminum industry are both expecting very little to come from the meeting. Meanwhile, Pierre Poilievre, expecting very little to result, is licking his chops, waiting for Mark Carney to return so that he can attack Mark Carney on the expected minimal results.

Dealing with Trump is like dealing with a pampered five year-old kid. In this case, it is a five year-old kid who does not like the adult that he’s dealing with. Donald Trump does not like Mark Carney, nor the liberal government that Mark Carney leads.

Trump does not like the fact that Canada has not rolled over, on tariff deals that other countries have. Donald Trump is also upset with the fact that Canada is recognizing Palestinian statehood. OK so we’re dealing with a pampered five-year-old who is also a bully.

There are rumblings, in Washington, of a desire to kill completely the current three country trade deal between Canada US Mexico, formally known as NAFTA.

The US trade representative, Jamieson Greer, stated the following,

“The U.S.-Canada relationship is so different from the U.S.-Mexico relationship in so many ways. If you look at NAFTA and then USMCA, it’s almost like: Why did we bundle it all together? I mean, the answer is, it looks, it sounds nice – right? It’s like a geopolitical kind of thing, NAFTA.”

“I think we’re going to spend a lot of time just one-on-one with each of these countries.”

That does not bode well for the continuation of the three country deal. Mark Carney, for the last few months, has been travelling to other countries seeking economic relationships. He might have to start working with the adage ‘ the enemy of my enemy is my friend’ and maybe take a trip to China, to seek deals that would benefit both Canada and China.

It’s a new world out there. Adjustments will have to be made and they will be painful, but they need to be made anyway.

That’s all I have for today.