Canada’s Defiance Deserves Our Respect*
Published in Süddeutsche Zeitung
(Germany) on 8 September 2026
by Ann-Kathrin Nezik (link to
original)
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is responding to U.S. tariffs with far greater resolve than is the EU. It has boosted his standing, but the strategy is not without risk.
“Dollar-for-dollar” was the way Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney vowed to counter Donald Trump’s tariffs. And, true to his word, Canadian counter-tariffs came into effect on Tuesday. American cheese, wood and clothing products entering Canada from the U.S. are now subject to import duties. See how you like that, Donald.
Carney deserves our respect for taking such a step, if only because he is virtually alone in the world in doing so. The Europeans acted far too defensively in their own trade dispute with Trump because they were loath to offend him. This approach didn’t exactly pay off. The trade deal, which the European Commission struck with the U.S. administration in the summer of 2025, was not as disastrous for Europe as many had feared, but Trump's bullying didn't stop afterward.
From a European perspective, therefore, it will be very interesting to watch how things play out between the United States and Canada. Trump has already reacted to Canada’s retaliatory tariffs with the sort of childish anger we have come to expect of him. He has threatened to ban the Canadian firm Bombardier from selling its aircraft in the United States and renamed Lake Ontario, which straddles the U.S.-Canada border region, Lake America.
Carney could hardly have hoped for a better turn of events. Trump’s onslaughts and the Canadian government’s response to them have awakened a new spirit of patriotism in the country. It's a mood to which Carney owes much of his political popularity.
Yet his strategy is not without risk. Canada is no economic superpower, depending as it does on trade with the United States. The country can ill afford for the dispute to escalate — and, for that matter, neither can the United States. And yet it is worth trying to play Trump at his own game. You only need look to Google for an example of how not to act. Lake Ontario is now Lake America in the U.S. version of its Maps software. By renaming the Great Lake in this way, the tech conglomerate has effectively submitted to Trump’s insanity.
*Editor's note: This article is available in its original language with a paid subscription.
“Dollar-for-dollar” was the way Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney vowed to counter Donald Trump’s tariffs. And, true to his word, Canadian counter-tariffs came into effect on Tuesday. American cheese, wood and clothing products entering Canada from the U.S. are now subject to import duties. See how you like that, Donald.
Carney deserves our respect for taking such a step, if only because he is virtually alone in the world in doing so. The Europeans acted far too defensively in their own trade dispute with Trump because they were loath to offend him. This approach didn’t exactly pay off. The trade deal, which the European Commission struck with the U.S. administration in the summer of 2025, was not as disastrous for Europe as many had feared, but Trump's bullying didn't stop afterward.
From a European perspective, therefore, it will be very interesting to watch how things play out between the United States and Canada. Trump has already reacted to Canada’s retaliatory tariffs with the sort of childish anger we have come to expect of him. He has threatened to ban the Canadian firm Bombardier from selling its aircraft in the United States and renamed Lake Ontario, which straddles the U.S.-Canada border region, Lake America.
Carney could hardly have hoped for a better turn of events. Trump’s onslaughts and the Canadian government’s response to them have awakened a new spirit of patriotism in the country. It's a mood to which Carney owes much of his political popularity.
Yet his strategy is not without risk. Canada is no economic superpower, depending as it does on trade with the United States. The country can ill afford for the dispute to escalate — and, for that matter, neither can the United States. And yet it is worth trying to play Trump at his own game. You only need look to Google for an example of how not to act. Lake Ontario is now Lake America in the U.S. version of its Maps software. By renaming the Great Lake in this way, the tech conglomerate has effectively submitted to Trump’s insanity.
*Editor's note: This article is available in its original language with a paid subscription.
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