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?
I think at this point we’re just buying time to diversify trade. It’s incredibly stupid to to think factories can be built in two weeks or even that businesses can source products from suppliers in other countries in that time frame. This is seemingly what Trump thinks, but yeah, it’s stupid.
So I’m hoping they’re doing everything needed to end dependence on the US in the background while mitigating the impact of Trump’s nonsense in the short term. But as @sbv@sh.itjust.works says, we can’t really know we’re just reading tea leaves.
You’re right. There’s no “done” here. There’s a tonne of work to be done to diversify our economy and trading partners - it’ll be an ongoing burden because we don’t have any other adjacent markets.
Anyhow. My perspective isn’t as gloomy as other commenters. There were international rules around digital services taxes being negotiated before Trump came along. AFAIU they stalled, but this crap seems like a good reason to get them started again.