Why is Trump picking a trade fight with our best friend Canada?

MSNBC's Ari Belcher did a segment on the trade fight that President Trump has picked with Canada.   The question is:  Why is he doing it?

We share the longest common border of any two countries in the world.   We have a long history of close friendship and common cause.  Canadian military have fought alongside ours in numerous wars, including Afghanistan.

When it comes to trade, the bridge between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario carries more exchange of goods between our countries than any other one portal in the world.

So Trump began this debacle by proclaiming that Canada "treats us very unfairly" in trade.  He claims that we have a huge trade deficit with them.   And he slapped tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum.

No only is this untrue -- Trump is cherry-picking his figures -- but it was a big insult to our best friends.  Here are the facts on the numbers:

If goods alone are considered, we do have a $17.5 billion deficit in a $600 billion trade package.   But, if you consider both goods and services, we have an $8.4 billion trade surplus.   And if you look at individual products, we have a trade surplus in agricultural products and in steel.

So what's the big deal that you want to not only start a trade war, but also insult our best friends?   And Canadians have taken it as an insult and are reacting strongly, though with typical Canadian restraint and decorum, unlike the rude, vulgarian from Queens.

Ari interviewed Bruce Heyman, U.S. ambassador to Canada from 2014 through the end of Obama's term.   He had this to say:

"If you look at this in the larger context of our relationship with Canada, the differences are small.   What the president did with tariffs on steel and aluminum is just like you're sitting with your best friend, and you just punched him in the face while you're having a discussion about who's going to pick up the check or where you're going afterwards."

It just doesn't make any sense.   But then does anything Donald Trump does make sense to us?    He may be following some "gut" feeling that this will be good.    But it's often nonsense to others.

Canadians, being generally polite people, have tempered their outrage.  But there is no question they are upset, angry, and hurt.   Even while being more outspoken than usual in self-defense, their action is to say they will impose targeted sanctions on U.S. products, using specific congressional districts, etc. to put pressure on specific politicians   But they also said they would postpone implementing it for period of time to allow for a negotiated compromise.

Could we please trade Donald Trump for Justin Trudeau as our president?  I abhor what he represents -- and, like it or not, he represents me, and you, and all of us when he acts as president of the United States.   Every day he does something that makes me want to leap up and shout:   "Hell, no!   Not in my name."

Ralph