On Tariffs – Active History - Scholarsquare

David Webster
— Tariffs on you!
— No, bigger tariffs on you!
— No, I have the biggest, most beautiful tariffs, and I am slapping them on you!

Anyone could be excused for thinking it was a battle of toddlers. But this is deadly serious: a trade war, one that reminds us of moments of trade tension between Canada and the United States in the past. Only this time, it’s supersized.

Canada has historically balanced its trade between the imperial mother in Britain (the Conservative favourite) and the upstart Uncle Sam (more beloved by Liberals). When the United States slapped tariffs on Canada, trade soared with the UK. The first PM, John A. MacDonald, boasted of his “National Policy” that would nurture infant Canadian industries behind tariff walls. Wilfrid Laurier sought “unrestricted reciprocity” (freer trade had fancier names back then) with the US, and was resoundingly thumped in the 1911 election for it, by the pro-British nationalist Tory Robert Borden. The North American neighbours converged as the Second World War loomed in Europe and Britain’s weakness forced Canada into the loving embrace of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s and his New Deal. Mackenzie King stopped just short of a free trade deal, fearing “the fate of Sir Wilfrid,” who always had sage advice to offer to King from beyond the grave.

Gradual, deepening trade embrace and political alliance seemed the unalterable destiny of the US and the country North of America throughout the Cold War, with Lester Pearson and Lyndon Johnson’s Auto Pact perhaps the best symbol of neighbourliness. Then came Brian Mulroney, who finally got the Free Trade Agreement that had been considered so many times before. No more trying to diversify trade – Mulroney was all-in on the American gamble. And for years, it seemed to be fulfilling some of what he promised when he fought and won the 1988 election on this issue – more prosperity in a more integrated continental economy.

What would Mulroney make of recent events?

Canada is now faced with an existential crisis over President Donald Trump’s tax increases, which he calls tariffs. Trump threatens to destroy the Canadian economy, as a way to annex the country. And yet, few people actually know what a tariff is, or how trade policy works, now and in the past.

To help clear up the issues, at least for a small number of Canadians, a group of colleagues at Bishop’s University held a forum on the history, politics and economics of tariffs, in January of 2025. This forum, which will run over the next three days, offers a series of reflections in edited articles.

First, political economist Heather McKeen-Edwards offers a primer on the economics of tariffs, demystifying a lot of the topic. Next, historian Gordon Barker surveys the US history of tariffs (spoiler: there have been a lot them over the decades). Finally, Gilbert Gagné reflects on the politics of tariffs, drawing on his expertise as a leading political scientist of NAFTA, as we used to call the now-defunct North American Free Trade Agreement. Together, these articles aim to help us understand the history and the issues behind the “dumbest trade war” in a long time.