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Even so, a trade war with a country 10 times our size may not be wiseLast updated 1 hour ago Left to right: U.S. President Donald Trump in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina on Aug. 21, 2026 and Prime Minister Mark Carney in Levis, Que., on Aug. 24, 2026. Photo by SAUL LOEB and ANDREJ IVANOV/AFP via Getty Images filesA lot of the verbal ordnance being lobbed across the 49th parallel after last week’s breakdown in trade talks needs qualification.Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman, and others.Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.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.Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman and others.Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.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.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 AccountorU.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says it’s “foolish” for Canada to welcome a trade war with the U.S., in part because we’re “a country that doesn’t have a military.” You hope the trade war doesn’t turn into a shooting war so that the size of our military becomes relevant, but just for the record, Wikipedia does detect a military presence in Canada. The U.S. is seventh on its list of countries according to the size of their military, with 2.1 million men and women under arms, but we’re on the list, too, at 66th, just behind Guatemala and just ahead of South Sudan. Of every 1,000 Canadians, 1.6 people are on active duty. In the U.S. it’s four. Of course, U.S. active duty has been rather more active lately than Canadian, which often involves waiting for equipment to be repaired. Or bought. Or built.Is there any chance at all the trade war will come to a shooting war? Americans might not take it very well if we taxed or even embargoed our energy exports. You start cutting off energy and people get touchy. Japan’s December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor followed Washington’s August 1941 embargo on oil and gas sales to Japan, which until then got its oil and gas mainly from the U.S. Donald Trump was so impressed by his military’s arrest and extradition of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro that he decided to attack Iran. Though that hasn’t gone as well, he might think sending in the Marines to keep Canadian power stations open and maybe haul Doug Ford’s now-famous ass off to Washington for a paddling would not be a stretch. This is a president, after all, that most Canadians think is not operating with all his chips. You’d hope saner heads would prevail but there’s not a lot of evidence they get a say these days.Get the latest headlines, breaking news and columns.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 Top Stories will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againThere’s also the problem that, as our own federal government website says, “Canada and the U.S. share a highly interconnected energy system,” with oil, gas and electricity flowing both ways across the border. More south than north, to be sure, but the Americans have taps they can turn off, too.Duffy’s comment about Canada being “foolish” to welcome a trade war with the U.S. is certainly true. The U.S. economy is $32.4 trillion (in U.S. dollars adjusted for purchasing-power differences). Ours is $2.9 trillion (just behind Spain, just ahead of Saudi Arabia). They take 73 per cent of our exports. We take 16 per cent of theirs. We’re important to them, yes, but the relationship is asymmetric — not completely one-sided but certainly lopsided. Duffy’s boss, President Trump, posted that “The USA will always be far bigger, richer, and stronger than Canada.” Always is a long time but, OK, it’s a reasonable prediction. Feel better, Mr. President?Duffy also told Fox News: “Canada gets the benefit of trading with the U.S. way more than the U.S. gets the benefit of trading with Canada.” That’s also probably true. Most economic studies of free trade areas find that small countries benefit more than big ones — though big ones benefit, too. The U.S. economy doesn’t need Canada to achieve scale economies and other economic efficiencies, especially given the radical openness of its internal market. Adding 10 per cent more to its market size does help — in some areas it may help a lot — but the big gains and adjustments occur in the country that joins up with a partner 10 times its size.Trump says Canada wants “the benefits of being a state, without being one.” Well, yes, and why not? Globalization, though it’s now a pariah word and concept, allowed countries to get the full benefits of free trade yet didn’t prevent them from expressing their nationality. Best of both worlds. As I argued some time ago in a book now available on Amazon at 43 per cent off, all through the 1960s and 1970s trade was rising as a share of Canada’s economy even as Canadian identity was flourishing.The president complains that Canadians “feel entitled.” We probably do. It’s a rich-country disease the Americans themselves are not immune to. He also says we’re the “most difficult and unreasonable” country he has to deal with. Even more difficult and unreasonable than Iran? North Korea? Or China? We’re certainly touchy, sensitive and passive-aggressive. It’s easy to understand why that would drive U.S. negotiators nuts.Trump declares “the days of ripping off our Farmers, and other Businesses, are OVER.” Ripping off is a big exaggeration but there are many stupid things on our books that we could easily clean up.Our tariff on ice cream, for instance. Care to guess? Wrong. Guess higher. 267.5 per cent. True, that’s on imports in excess of a specified quota below which the tariff is zero. The Canadian industry argues the beyond-quota rates never kick in so the argument is a tempest in a milk can. OK, so why not ditch the red-flag triple-digit tariffs that never kick in? Or at least round them down to a nice Trump-like 50 per cent?Before you go to trade-war with a country 10 times your size make sure you’re not just fighting over small symbolic provocations. 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. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.