In the latest whiplash from the White House, U.S. President Trump told reporters on Sunday that he would announce 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imported to the U.S. – including from Canada – on Monday.

This, of course, comes a week after he decided to give Canada a 30-day reprieve from blanket and crippling tariffs on all exports to the U.S.

This is an incredibly tense and chilling time for two countries that have been allies and trade partners for a long time. But the current fear and anger over the tariffs, and annexation talk aren’t new.

Asa McKercher has been studying the Canada-U.S. relationship for years. He is the Hudson Chair in Canada-U.S. relations at the Brian Mulroney Institute of Government, and teaches at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia.

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