“Every day, tensions are rising between the United States and our sworn enemy, Canada.”
That’s how Stephen Colbert began a monologue about Canada’s brewing trade conflict with the United States, which escalated with the announcement of a 20 per cent tariff on imports of Canadian softwood lumber.
In a two-minute series of jokes, Colbert noted that Trump announced the tariff in a meeting with conservative media outlets — “It’s his version of Comic-Con” — and took the opportunity to make a saucy joke about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (that won’t be repeated here).
He also noted Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr’s response to the tariff: “The Government of Canada disagrees strongly with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s decision to impose an unfair and punitive duty.”
“Disagrees strongly!” Colbert emphasized. “Them’s fightin’ words!”
Colbert had an idea for how the two countries could ease tensions. But readers can discover that for themselves.
The tariff is the second of two trade-related salvos that Trump has fired at Canada in recent days.
Last week, he attacked Canada’s dairy industry, saying what the Great White North has done to U.S. farm workers is a “disgrace, it’s a disgrace.”
READ MORE: Why did Donald Trump attack the Canadian dairy industry?
Trump’s remarks came after he had been contacted by the governors of New York and Wisconsin about a pricing policy that sees Ontario dairy producers sell ultra-filtered milk to Canadian processors at prices that are competitive with international rates.
U.S. dairy producers were previously sending ultra-filtered milk to Canada without being subject to heavy tariffs.
The move by Canadian dairy producers has cost U.S. farms over $150 million, according to The Washington Post.