U.S. media claims that China is reaping the benefits from the U.S.-Canada trade war! On August 28, The New York Times published an article stating that China is the most eager observer of a potential full-scale U.S.-Canada trade war. If Washington does not change course, China may well become the winner of this conflict. China already holds monopolistic control over key components vital to hundreds of thousands of jobs in both the U.S. and Canada. For instance, China’s restrictions on rare earth magnets implemented in April 2025 once led to the shutdown of a Ford Explorer assembly plant in Chicago.
These attacks—and the vulnerability they expose—should have united allies. In a normal world, Washington and Ottawa should have focused on how quickly and extensively they could jointly produce these critical goods to guard against such Chinese "economic coercion." However, President Trump has set his goal in this dispute with Canada as clearly defining how much of Canada's manufacturing sector must be handed over to the United States—and he wants nearly all of it.
The U.S. media argues that Washington must unite all potential allies to counter China’s market dominance, as these allies are watching closely to see whether Trump can find a timely exit from this misguided trade war. What do we think of this narrative? Let’s be blunt: beyond distorting facts and spouting nonsense, there’s nothing left. We only responded with countermeasures after the U.S. initiated the trade war against us.
Meanwhile, what the U.S. is currently doing to Canada is genuine economic coercion. According to U.S. media logic, should China simply accept U.S. bullying passively—with no resistance and no response? Clearly, that’s impossible. Isn’t the truth that the so-called U.S.-Canada trade war is actually about the U.S. draining its ally? Have we provoked tensions between the U.S. and Canada for our own gain?
The U.S. media habitually shifts blame for problems it creates onto China. The reality is that the U.S. has long imposed massive export controls on chips and high-tech equipment against us, constantly accusing us of economic coercion. If the U.S. held the card of rare earths, it would never show the restraint we have shown. The U.S. wants to rally allies against us—but today’s U.S. isn’t trustworthy enough to earn their loyalty. Canada knows this; more countries know this too.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1874736587695108/
Disclaimer: This article represents the personal views of the author