It’s another curveball in the Canada-US trade war – a new missive by US Donald Trump threatening an unexpected 35% tariff on Canadian goods starting next month. It came as the two countries engage in intense trade talks meant to produce a new deal in the coming days, and what the latest tariff threat means for these negotiations is unclear. But Canada’s new prime minister, Mark Carney, is beginning to face questions over whether he is able to stand up to Trump and secure the fair deal for Canada he promised.Carney won April’s general election vowing to keep his “elbows up” in the face of US threats, leaning on a popular ice hockey metaphor used to describe an assertive and confrontational style of play.But Canada’s recent concessions to Trump appear to have yielded, to date, little result.The latest came in late June, when Canada scrapped a Digital Services Tax (DST) it had planned to impose on big tech companies after Trump threatened to end negotiations over the policy. The White House said that Canada “caved” to its demands, and the move prompted debate in Canada.Canadian commentator Robyn Urback wrote: “Maybe Prime Minister Mark Carney’s elbows were getting tired.”She said government’s elbows up and down approach to negotiations so far could be characterised as a “chicken dance”.Meanwhile, Blayne Haggart, a professor of political science at Brock University, argued in a recent opinion piece in The Globe and Mail newspaper that: “Nothing about Carney’s US strategy, particularly his pursuit of a ‘comprehensive’ trade and security agreement, makes a lick of sense.”Walking back on the DST has achieved “less than nothing”, he said. Still many are willing to give Carney more time, and polls suggest his government maintains strong support.Roland Paris, a former adviser to Ottawa on Canada-US relations, told the BBC that it is too early to say whether Canada has conceded things premature …
