TGL 34 | Trump Has Underestimated Canadians - Dr. Christopher Sands
Podcast: WAC HoustonPublished On: Thu Sep 03 2026
Description: Trade wars are rarely about trade alone — the real question, says Johns Hopkins SAIS trade expert Dr. Christopher Sands, is whether either side can afford to keep digging in. In this episode of The Greater Loop, host Maryanne Maldonado sits down with Sands to unpack how the US-Canada relationship went from decades of stable alliance to full-blown tariff escalation in just eighteen months, what's really driving Trump's approach to Canada, and whether Carney's "no deal is better than a bad deal" stance can hold. Plus: the ripple effects on American households and small businesses, the political theater behind the Lake Ontario renaming, and what's actually at stake for USMCA's future.Hosted by Maryanne Maldonado | The Greater Loop — A podcast of the World Affairs Council of Greater HoustonSubscribe for global affairs content that connects the world to your world.What's CoveredHow eighteen months of tariffs, IEEPA rulings, and Section 122 and 338 actions took the US-Canada relationship from USMCA cooperation to open trade warTrump's long game: reshoring industry, "Buy America," and why he views Canada as free-riding on US defenseMark Carney's political comeback — uniting Canada's provinces and opposition around a hardline stanceThe Lake Ontario/"Lake America" flashpoint and what it reveals about Trump's negotiating styleWhy small and mid-sized businesses are absorbing the brunt of retaliatory tariffs, and what it means for inflationCanada's September 8th retaliation and the looming January 2027 US counter-retaliationThe future of USMCA: can a 16-year renewal survive this level of legal and political frictionSands' case for what a real North American trade bloc could still become — if both sides can find their way back to the table
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