Colin Bird, head of the Canadian consulate in Detroit, told an audience of about 40 students and faculty at Kalamazoo College on Wednesday that competing with China is like running in an Olympic marathon.
He said if the United States is not working with its allies to bolster its competitive position, that’s like cutting off its leg at the beginning of the marathon.
“When the first steps out of the gate of a new administration in the United States is to levy tariffs on all its allies as opposed to some of the players who we all agree need to have some of their practices addressed, that's a huge challenge.”
Donald Trump said one of the reasons for imposing a 25% tariff on Canada is to stop the flow of fentanyl into the US from the north.
But Bird said that doesn’t make sense.
“The reality is the price of fentanyl is higher in the Canadian market than in the US market," Bird said.
"So if you ever get fentanyl into Canada, you want to keep it there. You don't want to send it to the lower price jurisdiction. I mean, it's just straight economics.”
Bird added, with some emotion, that American and Canadian interests are aligned on controlling the drug.
“Canada is all in with the US on trying to deal with fentanyl because Canada and the United States are the only two countries in the world that have this problem. And both of us are dying at equal rates, so it is a shared problem that is unique to North America.”
Bird said he does not believe a high-tariff policy is in the best interest for either country, and that President Trump’s trade policies are reshaping the relationship between the two neighbors.
“Frankly, if there is a tariff wall around the United States, there's a lot of interest in Canada as a base for manufacturing and exports to the rest of the world. So, for us, that's an opportunity.”
Bird said President Trump’s tariffs and statements on making Canada part of the US are having an impact on the country’s April 28 election.
He said polls have swung 25 percentage points in favor of the Liberal Party.
Bird's consulate in Detroit serves Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky and most of Indiana.
