The Carney government’s self-proclaimed strategy of dealing with Donald Trump has been to hope the obvious contradictions in the U.S. president’s tariff policy would eventually compel him to strike an acceptable trade deal.

“We are confident domestic pressures will create an opportunity to come to an agreement in the interests of both economies that puts us in a better position than we are in right now,” Dominic LeBlanc, the minister responsible for cross-border trade, told a Senate committee last month .

The odds that prices would rise in the U.S. from import tariffs were always high, but the Canadian side probably can’t believe its luck that the madness inherent in Trump’s protectionism would force him by mid-November to, King Canute-like, tacitly admit he can’t control the tide.

On

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