Trade friction between the United States and China has recently escalated again, and after the break-up of bilateral negotiations over the weekend, the two sides began to charge each other billions of dollars in tariffs. Wilbur Ross, who had participated in the US-China trade renegotiation during his first term in Trump, said that negotiations were more difficult to move forward today, an important reason being the apparent chilling attitude of Canadian society towards the United States.
Canada's domestic mood transition
In an interview with Fortune, Ross stated that the current difficulties were not only specific provisions but also changes in the domestic political environment in Canada. In his view, Canadian society was losing its sense of the United States as a whole, which would reduce the space for negotiation. Even if the United States proposed a new formula, political opposition to concessions in Canada could yield political gains.
This sentiment has been further exacerbated by recent incidents. The Canadian media had previously revealed that the Canadian Prime Minister, Mr. Kani, had been mocked by a recording allegedly from the private scene of United States Vice President Vance. Trump himself has repeatedly described Canada as “the 51st state of the United States” and proposed that Lake Ontario be renamed “Lake America”.
The controversy is still focused on old issues.
In Ross’s view, this round of US-China disagreements is not all new, and the core remains focused on several long-standing disputes: defence spending, dairy tariffs, and the transit of goods through third countries or neighbouring countries to circumvent United States tariffs.
He indicated that the Trump Government would like new arrangements to be reached on these issues, but that the White House would not necessarily take further initiatives to move the negotiations forward. Ross added that the United States had proposed to Canada “unfortunately advantageously”.
Inflation or driving back negotiations
The Prime Minister of Canada, Mr. Kani, made a different statement. As he put it, the CGW has remained pragmatic, patient and engaged in negotiations and has tried every possible opportunity to move forward with an agreement. Kani also criticized the United States for “too much and too little”.
Ross judges that if both sides return to the negotiating table in the future, the driving force is more likely to come from Canada than from the United States. However, price pressures may force both countries to reassess the current confrontation. It was mentioned that both the United States and Canada faced high inflation and that the conflict in the Middle East had squeezed oil supplies as a background factor.
Additional information:Reports indicate that bilateral US$ 8,72.3 billion was traded in 2025. For two neighbouring countries with highly interconnected economies, tariff escalation not only affects enterprises and supply chains, but may also continue to push up consumer costs.