US Trade Deficit With Canada Is Driven by Cheap Oil Imports (1)

President-elect Donald Trump has justified his threat of 25% tariffs on Canada by pointing to the US trade deficit. Top Canadian economists have a response to that: it’s all because your country wants cheap oil.

The US is on track to end 2024 with the largest overall trade deficit in its history. Its imbalance with Canada is about $60 billion over the past 12 months — about one-fifth of the size of US trade deficit with China. Trump has repeatedly claimed the deficit is a subsidy to the Canadian economy, and said Tuesday the US doesn’t need anything from Canada. ...