Lesson from Canada: He gave in to Trump, no scandal

Federico Rampini / CorriereTv

There is a Canadian lesson that is valid for all of us. So, Mark Carney , the Canadian Prime Minister, had been presented as the leader of the national revolt against Donald Trump, against the insults and arrogance, the threats of the big and overbearing neighbor . Mark Carney, in reality, has just made a spectacular U-turn. He had announced a digital tax that was in fact a tax on the American giants of Big Tech, because they dominate the digital sector.

Trump had threatened, in retaliation, to cancel the bilateral trade agreement and Carney, the Canadian Prime Minister, immediately backtracked. He renounced the digital tax. This episode can be interpreted as yet another case of giving in to the law of the strongest, to arrogance, to bullying. But in reality it is a lesson in how geopolitics really works, where power relations count more than good morals or good feelings.

This also justifies, among other things, the behavior of the European Union in this phase of trade negotiations with Washington. Very pragmatic, very cautious. Every now and then it disappoints certain commentators who would like a more combative European Union, more aggressive towards the United States. But the rules of the game are the same as always. In the case of the United States, Canada, the behavior was very logical on both sides.

Donald Trump was elected to defend the interests of the United States . In this case, he defended the interests of the national industry against a tax that would have been punitive. Carney was also elected to defend Canadian interests and, of course, weighing the advantages he would derive from the digital tax, the disadvantages, the costs, the damage from a breakdown of the trade agreement with the United States, he preferred to give up the digital tax.