Why You Can’t Capitulate to Trump

The US-Canada relationship has shifted from a stable partnership to an asymmetric confrontation defined by Donald Trump’s transactional, predatory trade policies. Chrystia Freeland, former Canadian Deputy Prime Minister and author of *Unreliable Boyfriend*, explains that American tariffs on intermediate goods like aluminum are economically self-defeating, harming domestic manufacturers while forcing allies to seek independence from US influence. This aggressive posture inadvertently strengthens China’s position as a predictable, albeit authoritarian, alternative. American business elites, fearing regulatory crackdowns, have increasingly capitulated to a system that risks mutating into a kleptocracy. By abandoning the post-war rules-based order, the United States is alienating its closest allies and undermining its own geopolitical influence, leaving global democracies to navigate a dangerous landscape between two competing hegemons.