Trump Swaps Tariffs on Canadian Goods, Ottawa Politely Asks for a Gift Receipt
**WASHINGTON.** With the midterms days away, President Trump announced he will "swap" some tariffs on Canadian goods. Until now, Ottawa officials had only heard the word at office holiday parties.
Under the arrangement, duties come off products that swing-state voters actually buy and go back on products nobody in Ohio has ever knowingly purchased. One early draft reportedly moved a levy off lumber and onto Canadian figure-skating judges.
Over at Global Affairs, staff spent Thursday organising the new list into a colour-coded spreadsheet. Then they built a second spreadsheet to track changes to the first one. They called it "the most stable document in Canada-US relations in two years."
Economists noted that the total tariff burden stays roughly the same. That makes the swap less a trade policy than a bit of furniture-shuffling before the guests show up. "Nothing has changed except which American district feels it," said one Bay Street analyst. "Which, to be fair, is the whole point of a midterm."
Canadian exporters met the news with cautious relief and a renewed habit of checking the White House feed before breakfast. A Hamilton steel plant manager said he has stopped making five-year plans and now works on what he calls "a fortnightly horizon."
Ottawa formally thanked Washington for the gesture and asked, very politely, whether it could have a gift receipt.
Washington said yes. It expires November 4.