LILLEY: Canada's protectionist hypocrisy is hurting us with U.S.

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“They’ve been very nasty to us on trade. Historically, Canada has been very, very bad to us on trade,” President Donald Trump said on Friday.

The Canadian response to these words has been to scoff and claim that Canada is the best trading partner the U.S. has. Turns out both of those things can be true at the same time, and if you listen to the Americans, they have several serious issues with us.

Most Canadians wouldn’t know that Canada was subject to the first trade dispute filed under our new trade agreement with the U.S. The Biden administration said Canada was breaching USMCA commitments by blocking American dairy exports used in Canadian cheese production.

It’s not just supply management, the protectionist system that keeps foreign milk and cheese out of Canada, they also claim we find new ways to block American access in violation of USMCA.

The Americans have also accused Canada of taking too liberal an interpretation of determining what constitutes North American content in auto parts. A major push in the USMCA negotiations was to try to ensure maximum use of parts and raw materials from Canada, Mexico and the U.S., not parts from China.

The Americans lost a panel decision on that one, but they are still annoyed, even under the Biden administration, and believe we aren’t living up to the agreement.

The list of trade irritants the Americans have with us is long and most of them have been around for decades, but in the last few years, the Trudeau government has added to it. Beyond issues like dairy, softwood lumber, and protectionist measures to keep out competition in banking, telecom, media and other industries, the Trudeau government added three new bills the Americans oppose.

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The Online News Act, the Online Streaming Act and the Digital Sales Tax are all listed by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service as issues American lawmakers have with the Canada-U.S. trade relationship.

As we complain loudly about the idea that Trump would treat us so badly by imposing tariffs, we need to realize that we are not guilt free. Pointing this out isn’t saying the Americans are right, but complaining about protectionism while being protectionist is the height of hypocrisy.

Consider something like banking, which we highly regulate, ensuring American banks don’t enter the Canadian market for consumer retail operations. Now consider that TD Bank is one of the dominant forces in American retail banking on the America’s east coast, while BMO has a significant footprint in the Chicago area and, more recently, in places like California.

American banks are banned from buying up Canadian retail banking operations, even as our banks buy up theirs. When it comes to radio, TV or newspapers, Americans are banned from buying Canadian media assets, and yet we can — and have — bought up theirs.

We are not the free traders that we pretend to be and then get insulted when someone calls us out on it.

Some of what Trump is complaining about is legitimate, and some of it is balderdash. The problem is most of our political leaders are treating it all as balderdash, whether it is complaints about unfair trade practices, complaints about the border or complaints about defence spending.

Our leaders should be trying to listen, and — instead of groaning and grumbling — engage and understand our American neighbours as we try to negotiate and find a solution that doesn’t include punishing tariffs that will hurt consumers on both sides of the border.