This piece makes clear what many of us already feared: tariffs aren’t a clever bit of statecraft — they’re a blunt instrument that ends up punishing working people first. Ontario auto plants and Quebec metalworkers losing jobs, and Ohio and other US states seeing targeted pain, shows this is a political scorched-earth strategy, not serious economic policy. Canada’s decision to retaliate “dollar-for-dollar” is understandable, but tit‑for‑tat tariffs only deepen uncertainty for farmers, factory workers, and small businesses on both sides of the border. Progressives should be clear-eyed: we need to defend workers and communities, not corporate short-term profits or political posturing. That means pushing both governments to return to real negotiations and multilateral dispute resolution, while pairing any trade adjustments with robust support for displaced workers — living-wage transition jobs, retraining, strong union rights, and direct public investment in green manufacturing and infrastructure. It also means shifting trade strategy away from dependency on a single market by diversifying exports in ways that advance climate goals and Indigenous and rural economic justice. If leaders are going to reshuffle the rules of trade, those rules must include enforceable labor and environmental standards, protections for communities, and a plan to share the costs of transition fairly — not use tariffs as a political weapon that punishes ordinary people.