Canadians, hoping that Prime Minister Mark Carney’s first meeting with President Donald Trump would help reset and repair the relationship between two longstanding allies, were left wanting. The meeting, while cordial, brought no relief from U.S. tariffs on Canadian exports of steel, aluminum, lumber and autos. Nor was there any sign the president intends to dial back his chaotic, multi-front tariff war.

That leaves Canada in a very tough spot. A prolonged conflict with our largest trading partner is no path to prosperity. It will hurt Canada significantly — shrinking our economy and reducing incomes for many families. And with President Trump convinced tariffs are a tool to force other nations to bend to America’s will, we may be stuck with this brute force diplomacy for as long as he occupies the White House.

So far, Ottawa has responded with retaliatory tariffs on a limited number of our imports from the United States. But retaliatory tariffs come with real risks and costs, as tariffs are effectively a tax paid by Canadian businesses and consumers. In construction, they hit especially hard when applied to........

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