Barrie McKenna makes a good case that retaliation against protectionist US actions is not in Canada's interests. In the case of the softwood lumber countervailing duties we have in any case a good chance in the trade tribunal of getting them removed. Unfortunately in the last six months the incompetent Trudeau team hasn't thought this through at all. That's why Christie Clark was left throwing out the idea of attacking  the US thermal coal industry, and Trudeau, clueless as ever, saying he would have to think about it. His Foreign Affairs Minister is damaged goods due to her disgraceful handling of the media reports that her grandfather Mykhailo Chomiak was a Nazi collaborator, attacking the Russian government instead of admitting that the reports were substantially true. The Mexican agreement Freeland negotiated while she was still International Trade Minister now looks like a disaster, eliminating visas for Mexicans so that they are now flooding into Canada. Poor us!