President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney have been at odds for over a year, beginning when Carney became Canada's Prime Minister in March 2025 and immediately clashing over U.S. tariffs and Canadian sovereignty.
When Carney abruptly ended trade negotiations last Friday before the deadline for a deal, prompting Trump to imposed a 50% tariff on some Canadian exports, Carney retaliated by saying he would match that "dollar for dollar" on U.S. exports.
The U.S. and Canada have an enormous trading relationship. In 2025, the two countries exchanged roughly $2.4 billion in goods and services every day. As they remain at loggerheads, Brian Rushfeldt says both countries are losing.
"I think we've got two different reasons, though," he notes. "Trump, he's got an ego problem, which is driving him putting tariffs on. In Canada, Carney, since he's been in power for the last year and a little bit, has been doing everything he can to disrupt our economy."
When it comes to trade, Rushfeldt concedes that the U.S. ultimately has the advantage over Canada.
"If we lose all of the export, we're going to have businesses closing down," he warns. "That's Carney's big concern: We're going to lose the steel industry. We're going to lose the auto industry. We're going to lose the lumber industry because of the tariffs."
"I think we will lose those," the Canadian continues. "If we were to stop trade at the border period, just cut everything off — no more U.S. goods coming to Canada, no Canadian goods going to the U.S. — it would harm Canada much more than it would harm the U.S."
Publicly, Carney says he suspended the latest U.S. trade negotiations to protect Canadian businesses and preserve tariff-free access to the U.S. market, "to protect our workers and businesses." But Rushfeldt thinks he secretly wants his nation's economy to fail because "he is planning to bring Canada under one world order."
