“…yet ultimately worth it to preserve tariff-free access for the vast majority of Canadian exports.”
What is the evidence that it would preserve tariff-free access to anything? Even at the negotiating table, the US side explicitly reserved the right to set tariffs later at any level they please, including the tariffs it was proposed they reduce as part of the deal.
And this was only the prelude. The full blown CUSMA talks promise more of the same: more threats of tariffs, backing demands for more concessions. Suppose we made those concessions, as we did in 2018, as we did in 2025 and (if you had your way) 2026. And suppose this time Trump promised that was the end of it: no more tariffs, no more demands. Then he’d just renege. As he did to us in the past. As he has done to others.
Your whole argument is premised on a situation that does not exist, as if this were a normal negotiation with a negotiating partner. It isn’t. Grasping that key fact isn’t “losing our heads” or inflaming passions. It’s understanding reality.