Claude Lavoie: Canada will have to accept higher U.S. tariffs, unthinkable concessions

Claude Lavoie/The Globe and Mail: The Trump administration has abandoned this framework. Recent U.S. trade deals with Europe, Argentina, Britain, Japan, South Korea and others follow a clear pattern: the U.S. imposes tariffs of 10 to 20 per cent while negotiating partners eliminate their own tariffs and grant preferential access to American products. Washington’s only concessions involve removing duties on natural resources unavailable domestically or products Americans cannot produce at sufficient scale. Prime Minister Mark Carney said countries agreeing to such terms are engaged in the“performance of sovereignty while accepting subordination.”…