The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that Prime Minister Mark Carney's move to eliminate some of Canada's retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods was a garden-variety negotiating tactic designed to restart trade talks, and it succeeded. A Globe editorial says it will also have the beneficial effect of lowering the cost in Canada of a lot of grocery and household items as the drop in tariffs works its way through the system. Things such as orange juice, kitchen cloths and imitation jewellery were never going to bring the world's biggest economy to its knees. Anyone who thinks otherwise, like Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who wanted to maintain retaliatory tariffs, is probably not the right person to manage Canada's trade negotiations. This country's reality is changing rapidly. Old assumptions are useless, and rah-rah hockey metaphors about "elbows up" come nowhere near capturing the complexity and risk of a moment in which the governing principles of Canada's two biggest trading partners appear to be merging. It is urgent that Ottawa spell out its strategy for dealing with Canada's second-largest trading partner, China. That country's tariffs on canola, seafood and pork are hurting. The puck stops here.