The collapse of the U.S.-Canada trade deal is providing a rare glimpse into the secret world of international trade negotiations. Beyond just the insider view, we are being given hope that the mirage of “Fortress North America” can be put to rest.
The July goods deficit hit a record for the year at $119.59 billion, according to Thursday’s data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). If oil and gas export values are removed, the goods gap with the world for July comes in at $128.55 billion.
In one August week, Washington reopened the border to Mexican cattle, expanded low-tariff beef imports, and finally turned to the packers. Only one targets the real problem.
![Mexico’s top trade diplomat, Marcelo Ebrard, was in Washington for several days last week [from Aug. 24 to Aug. 26] but quietly left empty handed on Wednesday.](https://prosperousamerica.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/claudia-sheinbaum-650x366.jpg "claudia-sheinbaum")
Mexico’s top trade diplomat, Marcelo Ebrard, was in Washington for several days last week [from Aug. 24 to Aug. 26] but quietly left empty handed on Wednesday.
The collapse of the U.S.-Canada trade negotiation on August 21 drew headlines and criticism aimed at Washington. What the criticism misses is that the deal on the table would have undercut a key plank of U.S. reindustrialization policy and a vital supply line for national security.
The companies that spent a year insisting tariffs were a tax on consumers are now cashing the refund checks themselves.
The CCP is ready to look back decades for taxes owed to it — but not for the sovereign bond obligations it owes to thousands of American families.
U.S. aluminum tariff policy must consider the full aluminum value chain. Downstream extruders and fabricators account for most aluminum manufacturing employment and are the key producers converting metal into critical products used in construction, transportation, machinery, electrical systems, packaging, defense, and other industrial markets.
Despite foreign currency gains against the dollar in top trading partners like Mexico, Vietnam and China, import values for goods came in at $309.01 billion. That is the second highest import value of the year following May’s $316.86 billion surge, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said on Tuesday.
Fertilizer, and access to it, is essential in maintaining the strength of the entire American agricultural sector. Mineral fertilizers are responsible for over half the food produced worldwide, and it has run up to 44 percent of corn operating costs and up to 45 percent of wheat operating costs since 2020. When fertilizer prices spike, they hit the crops that feed the country — and the livestock fed off those crops.
