Here’s my theory: Carney dropped the DST because of supply management on dairy. My evidence is sparse, but:
Last month, the U.S. and Britain announced a trade deal related to a range of products. But Britain’s 2-per-cent DST was not affected.
(From the Globe)
That shows other countries have a DST but that hasn’t been a sticking point in trade negotiations.
Meanwhile, Quebec really likes supply management:
83 per cent of Quebecers want governments to do everything in their power to protect the country’s supply management system.
During the next election, Carney will probably need Quebec’s support to stay in power. By giving up the DST, Carney may be able to keep supply management for dairy, and avoid alienating Quebec voters.
I guess we’ll see during the final negotiations. Do our dairy farmers get to keep their protections?
There was a lot of talk about elbows up, but I’m unclear what is being taxed and how. There’s a list, but I don’t know what that represents in terms of financial cost to Canadian buyers and US producers.
Like, is it a tiny bit of posturing for the home crowd, or is it something that will hurt US industries (and Canadian buyers)? I don’t know.
Some of the existing countertariffs are targeted specifically at the southern states (thus oranges, sugar, tobacco, and such) who tend to be more likely to vote Republican. The idea was originally less “strike out against everyone in the US even if they didn’t want this” and more “hurt the people who caused this mess”. How well that’s worked in practice is difficult to say.
That original strategy was a good one - I think it was used to strong effect during the first Trump presidency. I hope these tariffs are equally effective, but I haven’t heard too much since they were implemented.