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J.D. Tuccille: Canada can win at trade by ignoring Trump

Negotiating the rules of trade is always a losing proposition; politicians should just get out of the way.

Prime Minister Mark Carney insists Canada is “at war” with the U.S. after trade talks between the two countries fell apart over the weekend. Fortunately, the war is a rhetorical one over commerce rather than a military conflict, for which Canadians are woefully unprepared. But the exchange of talking points instead of bullets is foolish and destructive enough, and evidence of the futility of managing trade rather than simply getting governments out of the way of people freely exchanging goods and services.

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“You’re at war when you get attacked. We got attacked,” Carney insisted towards the end of his Saturday press conference after the failure of the trade talks.

J.D. Tuccille: Canada can win at trade by ignoring Trump Back to video

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For his part, U.S. President Donald Trump responded that “Canada wants the benefits of being a State, without being one.” He complained that Canadians have “charged our great farmers, for many years, massive amounts of Tariffs. No........

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