US Election 2020: Canadians hope for Trump's defeat following NAFTA fail and trade tariffs

With the US Presidential election just around the corner, most Canadians are hoping for President Donald Trump’s defeat. Canada is one of America’s closest allies; however, Trump has jeopardised the relationship by threatening tariffs on cars and steel.

Recently, the US President had even called Canadian PM Justin Trudeau "weak" and "dishonest". Trump’s tone of attacks on Canada in the last four years has left a bitter taste and most Canadians will be relieved if the Republican leader is defeated in the upcoming November 3 election. 

A former senior foreign policy adviser to Trudeau, Roland Paris said, "He’s been willing to threaten Canada with dire consequences in a way we have never seen before." 

Canada is a trade-dependent country and Trump’s move to rip up the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and call to impose a 25 percent tariff on the auto sector pose an existential threat to the nation. According to Associated Press, around 75 percent of Canada’s exports go to the US and the two countries, along with Mexico, had also reached a new trade agreement. However, soon after, Trump announced a new tariff on Canadian steel and aluminum. 

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Canadians say Trump did little to back their country 

While calling the US President an "unpredictable nightmare", Nelson Wiseman, a political science professor at the University of Toronto, said that the government and the overwhelming majority of Canadians are looking and hoping for Trump’s defeat. According to a recent poll, only 20 percent of those polled said that they trusted Trump to do what is right regarding world affairs.

Some Canadian analysts have also complained that the Trump administration did little to back their country, including when China detained two Canadians in apparent retaliation for Ottawa’s arrest of a top Chinese tech executive wanted on a US warrant. 

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When Saudi Arabia had expelled Canada’s ambassador and told its own students to return home after the Canadian foreign minister called for greater human rights in the Kingdom, the US President hadn’t supported Canada even then.

The ties between the two nations are without parallel anywhere in the world but Canada's interests have been hurt and overlooked during the Trump presidency. Canadians had expressed hurt when the United States had blocked shipments of N95 protective masks from the US early in the pandemic. A former US ambassador to Canada, Bruce Heyman called it a "low point" in their bilateral ties. 

"I just couldn’t imagine living next door to somebody and they are need of something to survive and I’m like, ‘You can’t have it.’ That is just unthinkable. The relationship is like family. It’s like a trusted neighbour and we have a president that doesn’t value any of those things. He was so transactional for a win for him," the US ambassador to Canada had said. 

(With inputs from AP) 

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