The head of Ottawa-based Shopify says it is “simply the wrong choice” for the federal government to impose counter tariffs on U.S. items, as a trade war begins between Canada and the United States.
In case you weren’t aware of where Tobias (Tobi) Lutke’s views lay.
It’s not just about spite or fighting. If we don’t tariff back, our firms get fucked by American tariffs, unemployment increases, our society pays for a part of those tariffs. Adding Canadian import tariffs transfers reciprocate some of this to the other side of the border, and we then can use the revenue to negate the social cost of the American tariffs. Otherwise we’d end up in part subsidizing them.
It’s not just about spite or fighting. If we don’t tariff back, our firms get fucked by American tariffs, unemployment increases, our society pays for a part of those tariffs. Adding Canadian import tariffs transfers reciprocate some of this to the other side of the border, and we then can use the revenue to negate the social cost of the American tariffs. Otherwise we’d end up in part subsidizing them.