CANADA PERSPECTIVE

Ottawa drew a clear red line on respecting existing trade commitments. National Post led with 'A deal is a deal' — the EU's formula that Canada has fully endorsed — to describe the demand that Washington honour the negotiated tariff framework before issuing new threats on European cars.

Canada has direct experience of Trump's unilateral tariffs: Canadian aluminium and steel were hit in the first term before being exempted under USMCA. That institutional memory explains Ottawa's firmness: accepting that Trump can unilaterally exit an existing deal to impose a new one sets a precedent that would undermine the entire multilateral trade framework.

Canada also reads the European car threats as an indirect signal to its own industries: if the EU — a powerful and organised trade partner — cannot hold Trump to an agreement, what hope for weaker partners? Canada's argument is as much defensive (protecting its own deals) as it is a show of solidarity with the EU's resistance.