“Now that summer is officially over, we can get our town back,” I said to Camp after he sat down and took a sip of his pint. He shook his head of grey curls.
“Which translates into slow days at the bookstore my friend. Tourists are the main walk-in customers.”
“Does this trade war with the US impact your books?”
“Yes, Canada’s retaliatory tariffs of 25% includes books printed in the US. This will raise book prices for customers, school boards and libraries in Canada.”
“I hate to ask but how do you feel about Carney’s response to Trump’s unacceptable and punitive tariffs and unhinged rhetoric, including renaming Lake Ontario?”
“Of course, I don’t want to raise book prices but I have to agree with Carney in principle. We cannot let that bully jack us around like we’re some vassal state of the US. Renaming a lake? How about renaming America into Trumpland?”
“But we cannot win such an uneven contest. The US population is about 8.5 times larger and their economy is roughly 12 times the size of Canada’s,” I said.
“This is not a situation where there will be winners. Everybody loses and it’s only due to one man’s deranged hubris and narcissistic pride that we’re in this predicament. As Jean Chretien said on CBC: Trump is an unacceptable president.”
“He also said that there is a good chance that Trump is on track to become a dictator. Who will stop him? Not his cronies, not his acolytes and Maga crowd and not Congress or the Supreme Court, as long as they’re controlled by Republicans. In other words, this trade war will not end any time soon.”
“Everybody is waiting for these mid-term elections in November but I’m not so sure that Trump would accept a Democratic flip of either the House or the Senate. He’s already pushing the Supreme Court to disallow mail-in ballots, even though it’s up to the states how they conduct their elections and ballots are already in the mail.”
“I cannot understand how black people, Latinos and women vote for these white nativists who do not see them as equals, never have and never will,” I said.
We both concentrated on our beers looking out at the pristine harbour and our undisturbed, little corner of this world.
“Do you think Canada should throw potash, electricity, oil and minerals into the mix? Canada supplies about 90 percent of US potash imports.”
“That would mean a dangerous escalation of this trade war and not one that Canada could win. Let’s face it, there are about 4 billion dollars in goods and services that cross the border every single day. It’s a symbiotic relationship that is beneficial to both countries and has been for decades. This stupid trade war will only cost the consumers on both sides of the border and turn friends into enemies.”
“How can this be stopped?” I asked.
“If clearer heads and common-sense return to the White House, Congress and the Supreme Court. In other words, not anytime soon.”
When Vicky served up another round, I asked her if this trade war will affect her personally?”
“Well gents, how should I put it? Everything costs more and my choices are fewer if I stick to buy only Canadian products. Also, it affects relationships. I have several US friends who are equally appalled by their president but I have never met anybody that voted for him. Go figure. By the way the price of beer is also up. Nobody wins.”
