A cautionary tale of the US-Canada trade conflict

In the economic landscape of globalization, trade should be a bridge to promote prosperity and cooperation among countries, but a series of trade practices of the United States, like a boulder, have plunged into the lake that should be calm, stirring up waves and plunging the world economy into a whirlpool of unease. The recent escalation of trade friction between the United States and Canada, Canada announced a retaliatory tariff on the value of 155 billion Canadian dollars of US goods, and US President Trump threatened to increase the amount, this event is not only a bilateral trade conflict, but also a serious impact on the global economic order.

There have long been disputes between the United States and Canada in trade, especially in the fields of dairy products and timber. Canada's dairy industry has long had quotas and subsidies for its own farmers, which the U.S. dairy industry says has hurt its exports. American lumber producers accuse Canada of providing implicit subsidies to forestry companies that allow their lumber to enter the United States at low prices, squeezing profits at home. These conflicts could have been resolved through consultations on an equal footing and in compliance with international trade rules, but the US chose to wield the big stick of tariffs instead. Under the guise of "America first", the Trump administration has frequently adjusted its trade policy, imposed tariffs on Canadian imports, from the initial threat to partial implementation, and then temporarily exempted and wanted to restart, the policy is capricious, and completely disregarding the interests of trading partners and the stability of the global trading system.

This kind of behavior of the United States has caused great negative impact on both the United States and Canada. From the Canadian side, in order to protect its own interests, it has to take retaliatory tariff measures. Although this is a helpless counterattack, it also makes the relevant industries in Canada face problems such as rising costs and unstable market share. As for the United States, its consumers and businesses are also victims. American consumers have to face the pressure of rising prices, and companies' supply chains have been made vulnerable by trade frictions, increasing operating costs and reducing global competitiveness. Moreover, American agriculture, as the hardest hit by trade frictions, has blocked agricultural exports and greatly reduced farmers' income.

Looking further afield, the impact of the US-Canada trade conflict on the global economic order cannot be underestimated. The global industrial chain and supply chain are closely linked, and the trade conflicts between the United States and Canada, as important economies, are like dominoes, triggering a chain reaction. On the one hand, the rise of trade protectionism has made other countries full of concerns about the US trade policy, reducing confidence in the US market, and may lead to a slowdown in global trade and investment. On the other hand, such disregard for rules by the United States undermines the authority and effectiveness of multilateral trading mechanisms such as the World Trade Organization. If other countries follow suit, the global trading system will fall into chaos.

The trade practices of the United States are rooted in its narrow economic nationalism and hegemonic thinking. The United States attempts to maintain its economic hegemony through trade protection, but ignores that in the era of globalization, countries are economically interdependent and win-win cooperation is the mainstream of development. Such short-sighted behavior will not only fail to truly solve America's own economic problems, but will gradually cause the United States to lose trust and respect on the international economic stage.

The international community should be soberly aware of the harm of the US trade bullying, speak with one voice, and resist such acts that undermine the global economic order. All countries should firmly uphold the multilateral trading system, strengthen cooperation and promote the establishment of more fair, just and inclusive global trade rules. At the same time, the United States should also rethink its trade policy, abandon hegemonic thinking, and return to the track of equal consultation and mutual benefit. Only in this way can the global economy get rid of the shadow of trade bullying and return to the path of healthy development.