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Photo by Kelly Clark /Getty ImagesThus ends, it seems, the most pointless standoff since the great Pig War of 1839, when an American farmer on San Juan island shot a British-owned black boar rooting in his potato patch (tensions escalated but the only casualty remained the pig).Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorDonald Trump, while giving reporters a tour of the new helipad being built on the South Lawn of the White House, let slip that he had signed “a very good deal” with Canada that will avert 50 per cent tariffs on $28-billion of Canadian products.“They called yesterday (Tuesday) and gave us the points we had to have,” he said.The National Post newsletter that doesn’t hold back, giving readers the unvarnished truth on media, politics and culture.By signing up, you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of Right? will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againTariffs will be non-existent for American farmers going forward, he said. Since corn, soybeans, beef and pork are not subject to tariffs, we can assume he is talking about Canadian concessions on dairy.The White House said Canada has “expressed a commitment to remove the discriminatory or unreasonable and unequal impositions” on dairy, alcohol and vehicles.If that is the extent of the trade-offs, in economic terms at least, Mark Carney has a deal he can defend.The Americans have long sought an update on dairy tariffs rate quotas that would allow food retailers and food services companies access to the tariff-rate quotas (TRQs), rather than the current arrangement where Canadian food processors control the quota. The Americans have pointed out that Canada’s free trade deal with the European Union allocates TRQs to retailers, which provides for the importation of premium cheeses.If a similar deal is offered to the Americans, Canadian consumers may be the beneficiaries.Any concessions would be unpopular in Quebec, boosting the nationalist’s cause ahead of October’s provincial election. A Léger poll on Tuesday showed that Quebec is the province that feels most strongly that the government should take a hard line with the Trump Administration.But previous trade deals have seen the federal government compensate farmers and processors for lost business, and even the most staunch defender of supply management must have known some movement in quota was inevitable.On alcohol, provinces have taken U.S. wines and bourbon off the shelves of their government-owned outlets. But if, as Carney said in a statement, the agreement “ensures the best conditions in each of the strategic sections most important to Canada,” they should have no problem restoring them to the dingiest recesses of their stores. It will be some time before they are trending again in any case.On autos, Canada has imposed a 25 per cent retaliatory tariff on autos imported into Canada that are not CUSMA compliant. Even U.S. vehicles with non-North American content face partial tariffs (Ford, GM, Honda, Stellantis and Toyota have tariff remission).U.S. automakers have subsequently pulled non-compliant models from the Canadian market, resulting in the U.S. share of Canadian passenger vehicles dropping to an all-time low of 36 per cent.It sounds like those tariffs will be removed. In return, Trump said the U.S. is “going to give something. They were paying a high number and we’re ready to drop it a little bit.”What that number is remains subject to speculation. But Bloomberg reported mid-afternoon on Wednesday that the tariffs on steel and aluminum are set to drop to 25 per cent from 50 per cent.If that is the extent of the deal, it appears that the Carney government will be able to sell it to Canadians, who know Canada did not pick this fight.The worry is that there will be Trojan Horses hidden in the text. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer talked about “digital trade alignment,” which hints at further U.S. domination of Canada’s digital space.Vass Bednar, managing director of the Canadian Shield Institute, which is concerned with digital sovereignty, said the Americans are trying to lock in digital domination by big tech, by preventing Canada from imposing regulations that might challenge that domination.“Giving up our ability to govern is the exact opposite of standing up for ourselves,” she said.Jim Balsillie, the BlackBerry co-founder and chair of the Canadian Council of Innovators, told me in April that Canada was hijacked during the CUSMA negotiations in 2018, when it conceded the provision in Chapter 19 that allowed the U.S. an inordinate degree over Canada’s digital economy. Chapter 19 forbids countries from imposing duties on digital products or treating them in a “discriminatory” fashion.Canada has already ditched its planned digital services tax on giants like Amazon and Apple, and amended its Netflix tax to reduce an increase in the amount spent on local content. Next in line is likely the Online News Act, under which Google pays $100 million to publishers.Balsillie lamented the failure to include anyone from the digital sector on the prime minister’s trade advisory council, and it may well be that Canada has been outflanked again.The bigger picture though, is that we appear to have survived the latest existential threat — at least, until the next time the President decides to take a shotgun to our livestock.National Postjivison@criffel.caTwitter.com/IvisonJ Join the Conversation This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. 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