MSN

–

SIEMENS

SAYS:

Tariff

Tensions:

U.S.

and

Canada’s

Diverging

Strategies

By Harry Siemens

March 15, 2025

Excerpt:

Are we or aren’t we going to settle with the United States so we can all move forward? As my friend Jack Dawes always says when signing off our frequent phone calls, “Act as if we’re normal.”

I know — politics and dollar value go hand in hand. But do they?

It will be interesting to see how often farmers adjust their seeding plans for 2025, only to end up with the same mix of acres. Change is constant, but in the end, some patterns hold firm.

As the U.S. and Canada clash over tariffs, private equity manager Stephen Johnston argues that their approaches couldn’t be more different. The U.S. has a clear, long-term economic strategy, while Canada is merely reacting with no overarching plan to navigate the shifting trade landscape.

“America is implementing tariffs as part of a much bigger strategic policy, while Canada is just responding,” Johnston explained. The U.S. has committed to reindustrialization, recognizing that economic power is the foundation of military power. The U.S. believes it must rebuild its industrial base to compete with China; tariffs are a key tool.

The U.S. isn’t just imposing tariffs — it’s restructuring its economic framework to attract investment. “At the same time, they’re hitting Canada with tariffs, lowering capital gains taxes, corporate and personal income taxes, and rolling back regulations to make building infrastructure and manufacturing plants easier,” Johnston said. This coordinated effort is to help pull global investment into the U.S., shifting capital away from Canada, the EU, Mexico, and parts of Asia.

Original article here