President Donald Trump announced a new round of retaliatory tariffs on July 20 against Canada, invoking the Depression-era Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act in a game of tit for tat that can have no winner. Section 338 was designed to deter foreign retaliation by allowing the President to increase tariffs against a country that had discriminatory tariffs or trade restrictions on American goods. As the chart below shows, Canadian imports of U.S. autos historically have far exceeded those from the other listed countries. Moreover, it's not clear that the tariffs are the cause of the modest decline in American auto exports to Canada. Indeed, a recent survey for Toyota Canada indicated that 56% of Canadians were delaying major purchases, including auto purchases, because of "affordability concerns."