Canada must stop walking into obvious Trump traps
The Globe and Mail
Canada's national news organization ?? Sign up for our Morning Update newsletter: https://tgam.ca/daily-newsletter
Hello, readers! Welcome back to Business Cycle – a look at what The Globe and Mail’s business columnists are talking about this week. In the latest edition, we’re talking about Donald Trump’s tariffs threat, Ottawa’s recently-announced GST holiday and $250 cheques for Canadians and the overbearing subscriptions business model.?
(Don’t forget - Subscribe to this newsletter from The Globe and Mail’s LinkedIn page to get a notification when the latest edition is published every Thursday.)
What does Donald Trump truly want with his tariff threat?
By Carlo Dade
Donald Trump is vowing to impose 25-per-cent tariffs on all products from Canada and Mexico as soon as he takes office. The U.S. president-elect said in a post on Truth Social earlier this week that he will keep them in place until both countries crack down on drugs and immigrants entering the U.S. illegally. The response from Canada has been swift – from Ottawa to exporting industries to the agriculture industry.?
Contributing columnist and trade expert Carlo Dade writes that the panic and rush to respond to Mr. Trump’s tariff threats are “a serious miscalculation” in dealing with the incoming administration. Instead, he argues that Canada must stop walking into obvious traps and make strategic decisions instead of panicked responses.
"We are back to Mr. Trump’s first term, when the tweet of the day hung over us like the tweet of Damocles. We’re inclined to toss everything we can think of on the table to appease someone who probably does not know what he wants until he sees it. What we do know is this: Creating panic and desperation is Mr. Trump’s second-favourite negotiating trap. Canadian premiers have already fallen for his first favourite negotiating trap: Divide and conquer."
What do you think of the response to Trump’s tariffs threat? How will it affect you and your industry? Check out the full opinion piece here.
GST holiday and $250 cheques: A missed opportunity to truly help Canadians?
Last week, the federal government unveiled two new measures to help Canadians with affordability: dropping the GST on a wide range of products for a two-month period and sending most working Canadians a $250 cheque in April.
Contributing columnist and tax policy expert Fred O'Riordan writes that the two measures are a missed opportunity to truly help Canadians. He argues that the $250 cheque will do little to nothing for low-income families who have been hit the hardest by rising prices. Meanwhile, the “GST holiday” will likely fall on provinces to largely fund – especially those with harmonized sales tax (HST).?
"As it stands, it’s clear that these new Ottawa measures do not help Canadians most in need. These handouts benefit too many who do not need help and not enough of those who do. And their cost, in the form of a widening budget deficit, is a price that must be paid down the road, likely in the form of reduced government spending or higher taxes."
What do you think of the Trudeau government’s latest affordability measures? Do you think it will truly help Canadians? Check out the full opinion piece here.
Subscriptions are everywhere, and they are ruining our lives
Subscriptions are everywhere: Meal kits, movies, TV shows, razors, baby bassinet features and more. It’s becoming increasingly common for consumers to rent goods and services from a company via a subscription rather than own anything they produce.?
Contributing columnist and Lately podcast host Vasiliki (Vass) B. writes that it’s clear we are suffering from subscription fatigue, but that exhaustion may be preventing us from asking bigger questions about the trick itself – for example, what is the line between an efficient business model and one that is straight-up exploitative?
"The modern subscription trap is threefold: firstly, locking you into recurring annual or monthly payments (typically through deceptive practices); secondly, often intentionally making it unnecessarily onerous to exit that agreement; and thirdly, they can be a vehicle to inadvertently surrender other unrelated rights."
What do you think of subscriptions? Do you think there are cases when they can be exploitative? Check out the full opinion piece here.
More business headlines we’re following this week:?
The Globe's business opinion pieces are commissioned and edited by Ethan Lou. If you would like to write in this section, please send pitches to [email protected].?
Thank you for reading our latest edition! We'll be back next Thursday with another Business Cycle roundup.
Until then, sign up for more great newsletters from The Globe and Mail and continue reading at www.theglobeandmail.com. And let us know what you think by sending an email to [email protected].?