OAN Commentary by: Theodore R. Malloch
Tuesday, February 4, 2025
The Canadian ice hockey fans may be booing the U.S. national anthem in Ottawa, but they don’t know what is about to hit them. Yes, you got your thirty-day reprieve but that only gives you time to get your act in order. Tariffs are coming at 25% unless you act, and do so with more than mere words.
Realize that I am an honorary Canadian, was nominated for the Order of Canada, have a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto and sat on its governing board for six years. In fact, I taught Canadian economic history, literally one chapter ahead of the students at bilingual Glendon College decades ago. I love Canada and Canadians, maple syrup and red maple leafs. But this time it is America first.
Everyone knows that the U.S. and Canada have an historic and extremely friendly relationship along the most peaceful border in the world. It is 5,525 miles or 8,891 km, if you prefer the Canadian metric, indeed. But it is apparent to one Donald J. Trump, who is leading the U.S. for a change, that Canada has been ripping us off.
This rip-off occurs along three primary axis.
Canada’s border is allowing illegal immigrants to flow and deadly fentanyl to cross into the U.S. We are losing 300 American citizens a day from this onslaught, the ingredients of which are made in China, pass through Mexican labs, and are transshipped via Canada. It has to stop. Having a czar in principle won’t do the trick, either.
The second axis is the free ride Canada gets from the American defense infrastructure both through NATO, to which it repeatedly fails to pay its agreed 2% of GDP, and in North America on NORAD, including in the increasingly relevant Artic. The US can’t be taken for granted any longer as a dumb ally. The US is not a stingy Dutch uncle, it simply should not tax its hard-working citizens and companies for goods and services the Canadians consume for nothing. No more free riding. Canada has to pay up.
The third axis is trade. Canada, a country of just over 39 million people, almost all of whom live within a 125-mile radius of its U.S. border, has a trade surplus of $45 billion with its American cousins. The U.S. buys about 73% of all Canada’s exports. According to Trump, this means the U.S. is subsidizing Canada to the tune of about $200 billion annually. It too must change and rebalance.
If the Canadian government, such that it is, doesn’t want a tariff war and a tit for tat retaliatory effect, the way to advert bad relations is to agree to ameliorate the situation and do the following immediately, as our friends to the south, Mexico have now begun to do. You have exactly thirty days—or else.
On problem one: Canada must put up and fund a border force with its highly competent RMCP and stage them along the entire northern border. Using drones and other modern technology, Canada can stop illegals and drugs from entering the U.S. and infiltrating its own country as well. The cost of such efforts would be minimal and alleviate problem number one.
Problem number two requires living up to existing NATO agreements and paying, starting now not later, the money Canada owes. It can further fix the problem by issuing an order to buy billions of dollars of US made military equipment and technologies. It would help if Canada were to raise its overall contribution to 3%. It can also open the Artic front to US and alliance troops and installations. Canada could also agree that Greenland would be a needed reserve in the coming battle for the North, recognizing the value of its minerals and passage ways.
And lastly, Canada could say, in all fairness, let’s just have reciprocal trade. We can both open ourselves up completely. No restrictions or protectionist measures, whatsoever. U.S. banks will be welcome in Canada. Oil can flow without tax and with ease. We will fund new pipelines together. All U.S. goods can be sold in Canada duty free and vice versa.
There were times in the distant past when Canada and the U.S. were at odds or even worse. Yes, they helped to burn down the White House in 1812. While it may be conceivable that Canada and its peoples would benefit from U.S. 51st statehood that is, frankly, most unlikely. Sovereignty is a respected value, but it cuts two ways.
The preferred plan would be to go along and get along. Trump could sink your economy, cause a deep recession, and collapse your already dwindling currency. Do you want to test him? There is a better and more realistic option. Living with the elephant next door is a saner option and would also mean achieve a better result for Canadian prosperity.
Read points one through three and adjust. Trudeau is DOA and out the door anyway, and your next Conservative leader and his government would be wise and prudent to get serious and befriend Trump, and make common cause.
(Views expressed by guest commentators may not reflect the views of OAN or its affiliates.)
Ted Roosevelt Malloch is CEO of Roosevelt Global Fiduciary LLC. He served as Research Professor for the Spiritual Capital Initiative at Yale University, Senior Fellow Said Business School, Oxford University and Professor of Governance and Leadership at Henley Business School where he co-led the Director’s Forum. His most recent books concern the nature of virtuous enterprise, the practices of practical wisdom and “virtuous business,” the pursuit of happiness, the virtue of generosity and the virtue of thrift. His latest book is Common Sense Business, co-authored with Whitney MacMillan, former Chairman and CEO of Cargill, the world’s largest privately held company. He has served on the executive board of the World Economic Forum (DAVOS); has held an ambassadorial level position at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland; worked in the US State Department and Senate; did capital markets at Salomon Brothers on Wall Street, and has sat on a number of corporate, mutual fund, and not-for-profit boards. He was very active in the Trump campaigns. Ted earned his Ph.D. in international political economy from the University of Toronto.