This Is Why Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau Had To Sign A Trade Deal With The U.S.

President Trump welcomes Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau to the White House in 2017. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

John Fund, NRO: Why Canada’s Trudeau Had to Sign a Trade Deal with the U.S.

He’s less popular than Trump, his party is trailing in the polls, and he couldn’t afford facing the heat coming his way if he failed to cut a deal.

It’s no secret that President Trump and Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau don’t get along.

In June, as both nations threatened each other with tariffs during negotiations to rewrite the NAFTA trade deal, Trump tweeted that his 46-year-old Canadian counterpart was “weak” and “dishonest.” Trudeau responded by boasting that Canada “will not be pushed around” by its bigger neighbor.

But three months later, both countries came together, along with Mexico, to announce a new multilateral trade deal called the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA). Although all sides gave ground, it was the Canadians who gave up the most and blinked first. Trudeau simply couldn’t afford the domestic political heat he’d face if he proved unable to cut a trade deal with Canada’s largest trading partner.

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WNU Editor: John Fund's analysis on why the Liberals lost the Quebec provincial election last week is wrong. On paper the Quebec economy may be growing and unemployment is low, but purchasing a home is now out of reach for most Quebecers, renting has become a very expensive proposition, and the real cost of living coupled with record household debt is now the norm in the province that I also live in. Bottom line, Economic issues killed the Liberal Party in Quebec, and it will kill Prime Minister Trudeau's chances in the next election. That is why he had no choice but to swallow this trade deal. Not having a trade deal with the U.S. would have damaged the Canadian economy, and any hope of being re-elected. President Trump knew that .... and I am willing to bet that he knew that Prime Minister Trudeau knew that too.