The trade relationship between Canada and the United States of America (U.S.A) is one of the largest and most integrated in the world, with the combined value of imports and exports between both countries exceeding the $1 trillion mark for the third consecutive year in 2024. Additionally, Canada is the U.S.A.’s most significant export recipient, receiving 17% of American exports, while Canadian imports constitute 13% of all imported goods in the U.S.A, the third highest by country.
Despite this, on February 1, 2025, the President of the U.S.A, Donald Trump, announced a slew of tariffs on Canadian goods, kicking a trade war into motion. Since then, the shape of these tariffs has strategically changed multiple times as they’ve been delayed and increased on different occasions.
On the Canadian side, then Prime Minister Trudeau announced counter-tarriffs on American goods in retaliation to President Trump’s announcement, and emphasized the need for Canadians to come together and choose Canadian products and services over American ones.
In the midst of all of this, certain facts pertaining to US-Canada relations, such as trade deficits and the transportation of illegal drugs between both countries, have been distorted or partly stated (without context) in order to drive narratives justifying the instrumentalization of tariffs.
This article will examine those very facts that have been distorted, in order to contextualize the narratives they seek to drive between Canada and the US, and how that strategy largely speaks to rising risks to NATO’s security. As the distortion and inaccurate reporting of facts is a hallmark of disinformation, this article will use the Canadian – American trade war to highlight how self-serving narratives help perpetuate disinformation.
The Numbers, What Do They Mean?
President Trump tends to utilize uncontextualized statistics in his address to civil society to throw off or manipulate public opinion, as is currently being done in this trade war to provide the “rationale” for the imposition of tariffs on Canada. His justifications range from the trade deficit between the U.S and Canada, to the flow of illicit drugs like fentanyl, and the alleged inability of American banks to operate in Canada.
As is typical of disinformation, the facts in each of the situations outlined are often misrepresented and distorted to support a particular narrative. In this case, this is done in an attempt to frame Canada as exploitative of the US, economically and in defense; as this narrative permeates civil consciousness, the US fulfills its political strategy of demonstrating global economic hegemony.
Primarily, the US President has tried to frame the trade deficit between Canada and the U.S.A as a form of subsidy that the U.S. is providing to Canada. In different addresses to the media, President Trump has asserted that the U.S. subsidizes Canada to the tune of various amounts of money, ranging from $US100 billion to $US250 billion.
A quick look at the U.S.A’s trade deficit with Canada from 2021 to 2024 gives a grand total of $US250 billion. Nonetheless, a closer examination at what a trade deficit is demonstrates that this number is not a subsidy and it has been presented as such to support the aforementioned narrative.
A trade deficit is merely the subtraction of a country’s imports from its exports and is not a subsidy, which is typically a transfer of payments from one entity to another. The knowledge of political and economic structures and terms like this is not common among civil society, and such statements released by the head of state are polarizing when they portray Canada in such a light to the American population.
Initial reactions to these numbers might include uncertainty with regards to what exactly is being referred to. In this scenario, even if one intuits that the “subsidy” is referring to the trade deficit between both countries, the inaccurate and inconsistent numbers utilised in this claim create an atmosphere of confusion which only helps further push the narrative.
What’s In A Narrative?
A narrative is a story that a party crafts and attempts to tell to an audience using various instances and examples. They can be employed by all sorts of parties and for countless purposes, although they are typically ever-present when spreading disinformation. As noted above, the desired effect of this stream of disinformation with regards to the trade war is to create a narrative that justifies the enactment of tariffs against Canada, deviating the attention from whatever political demonstration the US is displaying, and cementing its hegemonic leadership at the cost of US-Canada diplomacy.
From the U.S. subsidizing Canada to illicit drugs pouring in from Canada, the narrative being sold is that Canada is taking advantage of and harming the U.S. and the way to counter this is to introduce tariffs that extract extra costs from Canadians and Canadian companies.
One effect of this narrative and the disinformation it relies on is that there is an ever-moving target for Canada to hit. Even with the introduction of a “fentanyl czar”, among other attempts to undo the tariffs, the demands from the U.S. to reduce the tariffs continue to shift. Indeed, even when reasonable measures are taken to address the stated issues and reduce the tariffs, new (inaccurate) reasons are given for their existence.
Beyond just justifying the tariffs to Canada and Canadian officials, the distorted facts are also utilized to pacify Americans that may be facing higher inflation and less economic growth, as caused by the tariffs. The narrative here is that the temporary pain of tariffs are worth the permanent gain that will be gotten once America is no longer “subsidizing” Canada. The use of disinformation in pushing these narratives also highlights the urgency needed in countering the distorted facts and half-truths.
Countering Narratives
Since the tariff announcements, the Canadian government has sought to change the narrative and dispel some of the disinformation surrounding the trade war. Whether that is through public press conferences or targeted advertisements, efforts have been made to correct and provide the full context behind some of the mentioned figures. Nonetheless, more efforts are needed in order to counter the narrative – and that is where the individual’s role presents itself
When reading any figures and numbers regarding the trade war or any other potentially controversial situations, fact-checking them should be a priority. If an American official states that the U.S. has a trade deficit to the tune of $US200B which is being used to subsidize Canada, this can be scrutinized through various sources. The U.S. Statistics of Bureau is one such source that will contain the most up to date and transparent data about the actual number.
However, it’s important to note that fact-checking isn’t always possible. While it is an effective action to take after seeing a narrative built around disinformation, it can be time consuming and some individuals might be resistant to the notion of conducting fact checks in the first place.
As such, as it is not always possible to fact-check every policy statement or idea published by the President of the U.S.A, individuals should strive to recognise harmful narratives and understand how certain facts might be distorted, understated, or over-inflated in support of said narrative. Healthy skepticism is another helpful tool in situations where the source of the information is a noted spreader of disinformation. If a wide range of claims are being used to push a particular narrative, healthy skepticism of these claims is warranted and is helpful in not falling victim to the narrative.
Any views or opinions expressed in articles are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the NATO Association of Canada.
Photo by Adam Zyglis | © 2017 Cagle Cartoons
