I’ve been interested in how Canada has been responding to Trump’s bullying and insanity. Back in January, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carney, delivered a blunt address in which he declared that the traditional rules based international order is not coming back and that global geopolitics had undergone a permanent “rupture”. Clearly targeting the United States, he urged middle power nations to unite against predatory superpower behavior and economic coercion.
Donald Trump responded by claiming “Canada lives because of the United States,” to which Carney fired back that “Canada thrives because we are Canadian.” Carney doubled down on his comments, telling Canadian media and Trump directly that he meant every word and that Canada intends to actively diversify its trade away from the U.S. through new international agreements.
Trump, while spewing braggadocio and calling Canada the 51st state, expected his tariffs on Canadian goods would bring Canada to its knees. Here’s what happened instead:
The tariffs backfired. Trump’s trade war taxed American consumers and hammered hiring. Meanwhile the Bank of Canada said in July there are clear signs the Canadian economy is adapting to the tariff wall — and then the Canadian economy delivered the biggest three-month job gain since before the trade war started.
The popular hockey slogan “Elbows up” became policy. Canada spent 2025-26 tearing down trade barriers between provinces, fast-tracking nation-building projects, and diversifying trade away from the U.S.
Hundreds of billions of dollars in investment rolled into Canada. Foreign companies spent more than C$44 billion acquiring Canadian assets in Q2 alone — the biggest wave of inbound investment since 2007. As fellow Substack writer and Canadian, Dean Blundell noted, “One of these men managed two G7 central banks through crises. The other bankrupted casinos. Investors did the math.”
Note: I pulled from Mr. Blundell’s Substack posts in compiling many of the points in this article. Not only does he offer great Canadian insight, but he’s also got a wicked sense of humor. I recommend checking out his work.
Canada International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu created first ever Strategic Exports Office. The goal is to create new trading relationships around the world. Sidhu announced the SEO had already secured more than $28 billion in international sales for Canadian companies. According to Dean Blundell, exports of goods and services to non-U.S. markets grew by $33 billion last year. In the first quarter of this year alone, non-U.S. exports were worth $96.2 billion.
In June, while Trump and Vance bleated that Canada is “Doing terribly”, the country posted a four-year-high trade surplus and exports hit a record $77.5 billion.
More below …… but first ….
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Here are some interesting specifics about Canada’s recent actions:
· Carney’s government has signed more than 20 trade and defense agreements around the world in the past year, including a free trade deal with Ecuador and a concluded agreement with the UAE.
· The AirAsia deal. AirAsia signed a firm order for 150 Canadian-built A220-300 jets — the largest single order in the A220 program’s history and the largest order ever for a Canadian-designed and produced commercial aircraft.
· The Cameco uranium deal. Saskatchewan’s Cameco signed a long-term deal to supply nearly 22 million pounds of uranium to India’s Department of Atomic Energy — roughly $2.6 billion worth, running 2027 through 2035. Apparently Indian leadership was looking for a supplier that wouldn’t threaten tariffs and deliver instability.
· The Sizewell C project. Montreal’s AtkinsRéalis just signed a new five-year framework in July to continue as civil works design partner on Sizewell C, the 3.2-gigawatt nuclear station in Suffolk that will power around six million British homes.
· MDA Space landed a $1.1-billion contract with Globalstar to build 50+ satellites, plus a defense communications satellite arrangement with Japan’s Mitsubishi. Telesat is delivering low-Earth orbit connectivity across Qatar. MDA expects to grow to 5,500 employees across 43 sites in 23 countries by January.
· West Coast oil pipeline. For decades Alberta crude has been sold, at a markdown, almost exclusively to refineries in the United States. Trump, again throwing around the 51st state BS, stuck a 10% tariff on Canadian crude. Last month, Minister Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced a new pipeline running from Bruderheil, Alberta to the southern B.C. coast, to move a million barrels per day into tankers headed for Asia.
Canada’s exports to non-U.S. markets now make up nearly a third of everything Canada sells abroad, the highest share in four decades.
Just this week, jobs reports came out for both the U.S. and Canada. The U.S. lost 23,000 jobs last month and revision of the overestimates of the two previous months brings the total job losses to 103,000. Unemployment ticked down to 4.1% because more people are giving up and leaving the workforce. North of the border, Canada’s jobs report showed the addition of 75,100 jobs in July, way beyond analyst expectations. Just consider, these numbers are from a nation with one-ninth the population of the United States.
Matt Winkler, founder of business and economic media outlet, Bloomberg News, stated, “Canada, since Mark Carney became Prime Minister in March, 2025, has outperformed everyone in America, the Eurozone and anywhere else in the world.”
What’s Next – August 19th:
Trump recently announced 50% tariffs on numerous Canadian exported products. The tariffs are set to take effect August 19th. It’s telling that he exempted energy, potash, critical minerals, and fish. These are things the current American economy needs from Canada.
· Energy. Nearly all of Canada’s exported crude flows to the U.S.
· Potash. This is a critical component of fertilizer, including for U.S. farmers. Saskatchewan produces roughly a third of the world’s supply. Russia and Belarus are the next top suppliers.
· Critical minerals. These amount to nearly $30 billion a year in the inputs for American batteries, chips, and weapons systems.
If Carney retaliates against the 50% tariffs by taxing the items above it will be Americans who pay the price. Carney is negotiating with the U.S. but has stated that nothing is off the table. He has publicly stated that if a suitable approach to trade with the U.S. is not reached by Aug. 19th, Canada will “get tougher.”
All of this is not so great for America, but it sure is making Canada greater, eh?
NOTE: From a healthy planet perspective I greatly wish Carney and Canada weren’t so invested in the extraction and petroleum industries. At least Canadian leaders acknowledge climate change even as they increase contributions to it in pursuit of economic growth. Alas, that is the ongoing battle of our age.
Again HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! YOU’D MAKE IT EVEN HAPPIER IF YOU CHOSE THIS TIME TO UPGRADE TO A PAID SUBSCRIPTION! I’m offering a 59% special discount — 1% for every year I’ve walked this amazing planet. Thanks so very much!
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Much Love Everyone,
Cylvia
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