Trade tariff turmoil pushes Canada to rethink US ties | DW News

We Begin the day with Trump's tariff threats and the political consequences recently when US president Donald Trump imposed and then suspended tariffs on all Canadian products it got many there thinking with friends like that who needs enemies well Canada's leaders are apparently rethinking their ties to the United States they're turning to another partner also targeted by Trump's tariffs an ally on the other side of the Atlantic the European Union Canada's largest Daily Newspaper the toron tto star has posed a question that not too long ago would have seemed fanciful it ran with the headline Donald

Trump drives a wedge between Canada and the US with a trade War could we join the EU and it's not only the Toronto Star The Economist has been pondering why Canada should join the EU Europe needs space in Resources Canada needs people let's deal well leading voes in the European Union have also been getting behind it European Parliament member member GE fhat posting on X we and Europe remember that Canadians died to liberate our continent in the face of Trump's Madness the EU stands with Canada now there is no reason why EU membership should be

off the table well now I'd like to play a clip for you where the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks about standing up for Ukraine and the rules-based Global Order but I'd like for you to pay particular attention to when he finishes making a statement and what he's asked by a reporter take a look standing up for Ukraine is also standing up for the international rules-based order that protects us all and is led to extraordinary Prosperity these past eight decades this is a moment for all of us to continue to stand together and as friends

and partners it's exactly what we will always do thank you thank you we discuss tires we're going to discuss all sorts of things including would be better at the 28 member State the US first all right the voice that you heard there at the very end that was our correspondent Jack perck he joins me from Brussels and Canadian political commentator Sean Malin is also with us from Toronto gentlemen welcome to you both Jack let me start with you since you asked him about joining um the EU is it possible for Canada to become the 28th

member of the European Union and is that what Europe wants so it's not impossible has been the response that I've had from EU officials after asking that question it might have seemed a little bit sort of glib that I asked him whether it would be better for Canada to be the 28th EU member or or the 51st state of the United States but it really belies a pretty important discussion which is where does Canada see it itself in the its place in the world related to the United States and related to the European Union it

was very clear from Trudeau's arrival here in Brussels that they feel very warmly towards the EU now the officials that I've spoken to since say uh that basically it wouldn't be completely impossible for can uh for Canada to decide to submit an application to be an EU member state that while EU member states have to be it says in the text a European country that there is actually no definition of what a European country is in that context so therefore it wouldn't be completely impossible and and Sean I I know we're taking a a tongue

and cheek look at Canada joining the EU but Canadians they must be reflecting on their place in the world given what has happened over the past couple of weeks oh yes and reflecting very much upon the nature of our relationship with our largest trading part partner I mean it's important to understand uh that Canada exports something north of 75% of our goods and services uh to our neighbor to the South uh and but the recent events with Mr Trump uh using about 51st state uh threatening tariffs already imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum it's caused

a lot of self-reflection in Canada about how much uh this nation relies on exports to the United States States for a variety of different ways and caused a lot of self-reflection within the country about trading within Canada because oddly enough there are substantial trade barriers between and among provinces as well so it it's been a an issue that's gone on for decades and suddenly is uh without much much uh Improvement and suddenly uh a lot of discussion about how to improve those as well uh joining the EU well uh I can't say that it's anywhere

top of the agenda right now but we live in odd times times don't we yeah we do live in odd times yeah that's you could put it that way yeah um you know that the president US president Donald Trump he has proposed Canada become the 51st US state is there any appetite Sean is there any appetite in Canada for that happening no significant appetite polls have it it so I think it's in uh in the teens at Bast of anyone who would even uh consider it you should know that not to bore you with Canadian

history but this nation was formed in 1867 largely to avoid becoming annexed by the United States so it's an integral part of Canadian identity to be not American much as we rely on and are are so closely tied uh to the United States uh of America so no real uh no real appetite for it and in fact this uh recent musings by President Trump has caused an upsurge Canadian nationalism which is not part of the Canadian nature that much uh people waving the flag more a whole raft of by Canadian initiatives and grocery stores and

uh all different kinds of forms of our economy well Sean you know Canada has no death penalty it has gun controls and it has Universal Health Care like the us or like Europe but like the US it is Big Sky country with big trucks as well are Canadian Ians do they see themselves as a bridge sometimes between the United States and the EU uh that's one way of looking at it one one of the irritants uh in in Canada US trade relationships is that uh uh other nations and the concern is obviously principally China have

tried to access the American Market by bringing goods and services into Canada and then taking advantage of existing trade relationships which uh Mr Trump seems to be prepared to tear up to access uh access the American Market there's a there's a saying though that the Americans are bevent benevolently ignorant of Canada whereas Canadians are malevolently knowledgeable about the United States so it's it's a it's a complicated relationship a former prime minister Pierre trau father of the current prime minister once said that Canada uh living next to the United States is like sleeping next to an

elephant in which you feel every twitch and shudder on the elephant's part no matter how well-meaning it might be and there's certainly lot of question right now about how well-meaning the elephant is towards its smaller neighbor yeah you certainly hope that the elephant doesn't um wake up and roll on top of you as well Jack let me ask you that we know there's a there's a number of countries there's a long list of countries that want to join the European Union would Canada be in a better position to join than say turkey which has been

trying to join for decades the honest truth Brent is yes probably it will be more aligned with the eu's values which is the complications for many countries when they try and join the E EU you mentioned turkey decades long process which is completely Frozen now to become an EU member country we saw Morocco once apply they were deemed to be two African to down on the African continent not a European country but also the politics are nowhere near aligned to the European unions in order to join the European Union what a country has to do

is to apply for a membership status get candidate status and then it has to open 35 chapters they're called things like is your justice system in line with the eu's justice system are your regulations on the phytosanitary and food regulations in line with the European Union will you fit into the single Market there's 35 of them you have to open them and then close them and some of those chapters are opened and closed very quickly with countries that want to join the European Union because they're already basically aligned and Canada because it is pretty democratically

aligned with how most European countries work would actually probably get Swift access well practically speaking though in the Here and Now how could Canada have closer ties with the EU without becoming a full-fledged EU member yeah there's a an EU Canada free trade deal known as CA which has already removed like 98% odd of the tariffs that uh between trade so trade is relatively free and open between the European Union and Canada already the political alignment uh and and basically free movement of people uh so that people could move and live and work on either

side Visa free uh that would be something that could be closer aligned that would come with EU membership if that were to ever happen um and also goods and services could could be quicker but at the moment the trade between Canada and the European Union is considered Rel L good it's in a good place both sides are relatively happy and Sean let me bring you back then the the US president reportedly is very serious about Canada becoming the 51st US state with that in mind how does the Canadian government plan to proceed with its relations

with the United States well we're in an odd situation uh right now Brent because uh Mr trau is a lame duck prime minister he's announced his resignation to take a fact as soon as his Liberal Party picks a successor which is March the 9th and that's likely to be followed very quickly by uh by a general election in which the opposition conservative party is heavily favored at this moment um so it's a very unsettle situation it's hard to predict where Canada is going to going to land on this um so generally speaking it's it's on

an issue by isue basis in dealing with Mr Trump right now and as you know the world can change in a moment depending on what he's uh posting on social media or what he's asked uh in oppress availability so um it's hard to get a good sense of where Canada uh us relations are going and the longer term with Mr Trump partly because of the unpredictability of our political situation and the inherent unpredictability of Donald Trump and CH the clock it is ticking on this deadline for these across the board tariffs 25% tariff on Canadian

Goods will Ottawa and Washington come to an agreement to avert that that's the question of the day and that's consuming a lot of the political discussion here right now uh again with Donald Trump hard to predict the Mr Trudeau gave him uh at least the semblance of a win a week or so ago by uh reann ancing uh more than a billion dollars Canadian worth of uh of uh measures to tighten up the Border uh should be said he had actually had announced them some weeks before but of course working in Trump land you want

to make sure he has the feeling that he's uh negotiated a good deal so they gave that to him um Mr Trump then moved on uh again to Turning Gaza into the Riviera and now into the aluminum and steel uh tariffs he's announced this week so it's it's utterly changeable the the the threats of retaliatory tariffs are still there and uh they were uh substantial and targeted at supposedly Republican areas of the United States like Kentucky bourbon or Florida orange juice to try to influence Trump um by local Republicans not much sign of any of

that happening yet but um yeah so that's a long way of saying who knows but there they're still very much the threat of a trade war and let me ask you both um before we wrap up here and I'm going to start with you jack will Canada apply to join the European Union sooner rather than later no but the fact that they that we're talking about this and the Trump White House means that we will I think see much closer Canada EU alignment okay and Sean you get the last word are you betting on a

European future uh no it'll be nice to have an EU passport I have to say but uh no unlikely certainly uh Canada's uh pushing hard to expand its its trading partners EU uh uh principally among them as well and yeah that was noted today in the meeting uh among Mr Mr trau and the European leaders that since Ceda was signed in 2017 uh trade has increased by more than 60% now it's still a distant fraction of American trade and still France and Belgium have not fully uh ratified the deal various agricultural issues but uh certainly

more trades um EU membership well let's just see yeah let's just see we'll see if there's more business South of the Border or across the Atlantic gentlemen Jack perck are my colleague in Brussels and Canadian political commentator Sean Marilyn to both of you gentlemen we appreciate your time thank you