No matter how the CBC and Trudeau's fawning press try to spin it, the new USMCA trade deal is no great victory. 

In fact, with our backs up against the wall, and our disastrous chief-negotiator mercifully benched back in Ottawa, it seems Trudeau painted negotiations into such a corner that we ended up having nothing left to say but "yes." 

"The main business of Canadian foreign policy is to remain friendly with the U.S.," Liberal minister Sir Clifford Sifton once said. If we believe that to be true, then yes, this was a success.

But to most, like the Post's John Ivison, "this deal is fundamentally about the reassertion of U.S. power." Look no further than the new acronym, and its decidedly American bend.

Couple that with an "astonishing" clause in the USMCA that gives Trump leverage over Canada-China trade talks (as well as with any "non-market country"), the continuation of steel and aluminum tariffs, and the continued over-compensation of dairy farmers, and you're left with the impression of a deal so one-sided, Trudeau's lucky he didn't lose the shirt off his back as well. (Although there's a good chance he wouldn't have been wearing one anyway...)

And as for the misguided, progressive social agenda our intrepid negotiators led with? After creating this whole mess in the first place, and missing the bulk of the early negotiations... they're nowhere to be found! 

Add that all up, and it's clear that once again hard-working taxpayers came out with a raw deal -- no matter how much they try to spin it. 

Justin Trudeau and his merry-band of happy-go-lucky negotiators were played, steamrolled even, by the adults in the room. 

If we allow them, taxpayers will be too.

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