Obama Questions Cost Of Canada Tariff Fight

Former President Barack Obama criticized current tariff policies on Canada during a Cleveland rally for Democratic candidates in Ohio on Saturday. He questioned the logic of imposing duties on a neighbor, saying Americans would face higher costs as a result.

Obama called Canada "that well-known evil empire" and pointed to the country's cultural exports. "These are the people who gave us maple syrup and Martin Short," he said, adding, "They're the nicest people." He described Canadians as "our friendly neighbours to the north" and asked why Donald Trump would "pick a fight with them."

Obama said tariffs have raised costs for American consumers, a burden that has hurt Republican candidates in some border states ahead of the Nov. 3 midterms. Trump announced on Friday that he plans to remove tariffs on certain Canadian goods.

Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc told CBC's Power & Politics that Ottawa does not expect a deal before the vote. The two countries have exchanged retaliatory tariffs since Trump started the levy campaign last year. The measures were meant to address fentanyl trafficking and trade imbalances, and talks between the two sides stopped in August.

Trump has also used Canada as a topic during his own campaign events. At a rally in Highland Heights, Kentucky, on Oct. 17, he said, "At some point, we're making a deal that's gonna be amazing." He added, "But for years we've lost billions and billions of dollars, and they just felt so emboldened." The crowd cheered when he called former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a "loser." He then discussed current Prime Minister Mark Carney, saying, "Your current guy's good .. he's a nice guy, but he's not nice when it comes to trade. He said, "They're learning and they're suffering."