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“For us this is not a trade war,” Jamieson Greer said last week.

LILLEY: Canada’s trade folly? Courting China while clashing with America Back to video

It’s a statement at odds with how Canadians have viewed the ongoing trade dispute with the United States. It’s not the first time that Greer, Donald Trump’s chief trade negotiator, has made those remarks; he’s also not the first senior American official to dispute the idea that Canada is in a trade war with the United States.

The United States hit us with tariffs; we hit them back with tariffs. In fact, we didn’t just hit them back with tariffs: we banned the sale of American booze in most provinces, banned American companies from many government contracts, and our elected officials encouraged people not to travel to the United States.

Canadians clearly see themselves as being at war with the United States, even if the Americans don’t.

A response framed as protection, not aggression

“For us this is not a trade war. We have domestic supply chains we’re trying to protect and support — that’s what we’re........

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