Trump says Canada is a bad trade partner. Are his tariff threats justified? [Video]

As Ottawa floats possible solutions to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats, it faces a dilemma: does it appease the United States and open up the domestic market, inflicting volatility and job losses but potentially driving down consumer prices, or does it stand firm with retaliatory threats to protect Canadian industries?

Canada is bracing for the impact of Trump’s threats to levy blanket tariffs of 25 per cent on all goods entering the U.S. from Canada and Mexico, with much being said about price hikes for certain consumer goods if the tariffs come into force, but little attention paid to what possible solutions, like opening up the market, could mean.

“I’m not going to sugarcoat it, there will be job losses if we open up those protected industries,” says Ian Lee, associate professor at Carleton University’s Sprott School of Business.

“But prices will go down, not up, and businesses can go on to much greater success [in an open market].”

At the heart of …