People Mentioned
Partner, International Trade, Toronto
New U.S. tariffs are the Trump administration’s latest attempt to build additional negotiating leverage and amplify certain policy disputes, says Jesse Goldman, a partner in the International Trade Group, in an interview with Law360.
“People see it for what it is — it’s an attempt to gain leverage and to force certain issues to the front of the line in terms of the U.S.-Canada trade discussions,” says Jesse.
He points out that the goods targeted by the Section 338 tariffs account for only a small portion of cross-border trade into the U.S. “If you take a look at the goods and sectors that are targeted, it’s a pretty small volume of goods, although it applies to USMCA compliant goods, which is just a blatant violation of the agreement,” says Jesse. “The impact will be more psychological than financial.”
Jesse says it is becoming clearer that placating U.S. concerns leads to new requests rather than ultimate resolutions. “What Canada has learned, though, is that appeasing U.S. concerns simply begets more and more strident, abusive and illegal behavior from the Trump administration,” he says. “In other words, the more you give, the more they want to take.”
In Jesse’s view, it would be “political suicide” for the Canadian government to capitulate to U.S. trade policy demands in the short term, and he noted that most trade between the two countries continues unaffected. “It’s not business as usual, but business hasn’t stopped and fallen apart, and I think there’s a lot of momentum to integrate much more closely with Europe and other trade partners,” he says.
If you have a subscription to Law360, you can read the full article by Dylan Moroses posted on July 24, 2026.
People Mentioned
Partner, International Trade, Toronto
