Day 504: Trump incorrectly thinks Canadians once burned down the White House

That was the apparent national security justification for Canadian tariffs.

Donald Trump’s proclivity for starting trade wars is well known. China, the European Union, Mexico and Canada have all fallen into Trump’s crosshairs. Trump has used some odd justifications for some of those trade wars and sketchy economics. While many on both sides of the aisle have been willing to look the other way when the trade wars are started with geopolitical rivals, there’s confusion on both sides of the aisle when Trump antagonizes longtime allies.

In his most recent battle, Trump cited “national security” as a reason why tariffs needed to be levied on Canadian steel and aluminum entering the U.S.

During a call last month with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the Canadian leader asked how such a “national security” claim could be justified. Trump responded, “Didn’t you guys burn down the White House?” apparently referring to the War of 1812.

The Canadians, however, never did.

This is a prime example of history according to Trump.

Yes, there’s a kernel of truth here, since a lot of Canadians seem to think it was Canadians who burned the White House. Also, the British burned Washington after American troops burned government buildings in what’s now Toronto.

The war was fought in large part over Canada.

All true!

But it was British troops who burned Washington.

Canada did not exist as an autonomous country for years. It didn’t gain full independence until the 1900s.

While Trump perhaps used the line in jest, there has been no rational national security justification relating to tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum. Using an Economics 101 supply and demand analysis, the new tariffs are likely to cause a lesser supply of goods to enter the U.S. from Canada. After all, if they can sell the metal elsewhere and not be taxed, they’re likely to do so. For the U.S. — since there’s no reason demand for the goods would change — the diminished supply will cause an increase in prices for buyers as competition for limited resources increases. These higher costs will eventually get passed down to end-users.

Bottom line: everyday Americans will be forced to pay more for the same products because the increased costs will infect the entire supply line of goods. And the British, not the Canadians, burned the White House down in the War of 1812.

504 days in, 958 to go

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