Canadian authorities arrested the chief financial officer of the Chinese telecom giant Huawei in December at the request of American authorities.
China has responded to Canada's actions by halting imports of certain Canadian goods such as canola and pork while blacklisting a Canadian delegation that could resolve the dispute.
Canada is now asking for the White House for help, but it appears that no one is listening. And, moreover, they don't know who to talk to because they don't know who is currently in Trump's favor.
“It’s a very challenging situation. When we raise it with the Americans they just say, ‘Dealing with the Chinese is tough’,” said a Canadian government source.
“It’s also not clear who we should be targeting since you never know who is up and who is down in the administration at any given point,” said the source, who requested anonymity given the sensitivity of the matter.
Among those the Canadians approached are Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Republican Senator Jim Risch, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.
This is the kind of thing that will prompt Canada and other allies to reconsider and possibly halt cooperation with American authorities.
We can't ask other countries to get their hands dirty for us and then simply shrug when they ask us to stand with them in return.
Everyone who works with Trump is eventually humiliated, but this could have consequences well beyond Trump's time in office.