U.S. President Donald Trump announces details on new tariffs at the White House in Washington on April 2.Carlos Barria/Reuters

There was an hour there as Donald Trump rolled through his ode to the joys of imposing tariffs on the world when Canadian officials and business leaders couldn’t piece together whether this country would face steep new tariffs, or lesser ones, or maybe some reprieve.

The bad man has been threatening to hit us on the head so often for so long, brandishing the bat and delighting in explaining how hard the blow would be, that it seemed like a stroke of luck that Canada was spared the “reciprocal” tariffs imposed on others.

Dozens of countries around the world were being hit with those. Sure, there are still tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum, and products that aren’t in compliance with the USMCA trade agreement, and the deeply damaging tariffs on autos that Mr. Trump promised last week will go into effect. But not the extra layer.

Only two whacks on the head? Thank you, Mr.........

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