Brute power of an imperial presidency

United States President Donald Trump has agreed to delay punishing tariffs on all exports from Canada and Mexico, which resulted in a threat of retaliatory tariffs from Canada.

- DANIEL DRACHE AND MARC D. FROESE

Nonetheless, Canada's closest ally is all but tearing up the Canada-U.S.-Mexico trade deal negotiated only seven years ago. The rationale behind what the Wall Street Journal editorial board has called "the dumbest trade war in history" isn't even clear.

The pessimistic view is that if Canada doesn't give Trump everything he wants, he will bulldoze the country with more tariffs, sanctions on banks, enhanced border inspections and even a travel ban—everything he recently threatened to do to Colombia.

Canada's political class is scrambling because the U.S. has long been a cultural sibling and an economic partner. But now it is toxic, threatening and untrustworthy. Will Canada sign another trade deal with Trump in office? The chances recede the longer the tariffs remain in place.

It's never been more clear that Trump is obsessive, seldom a bluffer and always iron-fisted. He seems to have planned and executed this tariff bomb to cause maximum pain and chaos. Now he says the European Union is next on his list.

Trump is counting on his new majorities in U.S. Congress to ram through his radical right populist agenda, forcing other countries to play a role in his melodrama.

In response to Trump's charge that the U.S. subsidizes Canadian trade, former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper pointed out that half of America's imported oil comes from Canada, and its price is significantly discounted due to a lack of pipeline capacity. "It's actually Canada that subsidizes the United States in this regard," Harper said.

Nevertheless, Trump's preferred foreign policy tactic is to hit first with economic sanctions and negotiate later. With his near total grip on U.S. government, he can now achieve all his aims through tariffs.