The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday, July 22, edition that Howard Lutnick's interviews often contain a lot of nonsense, but as U.S. Secretary of Commerce, his words matter. The Globe's Tony Keller writes that on Sunday he mentioned some positives for trade with Canada, but also raised concerns about the long-term outlook for their previously free-trading relationship. He noted that a threatened 35-per-cent tariff would only affect Canadian exports outside the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. The Trump administration wants higher tariffs, and it is willing to tell all sorts of tall tales to get there. It especially needs to tell tales to American voters, because they are not excited about tariffs. Mr. Lutnick said of U.S. trade policy, "It's fair trade, it's reciprocal trade." To quote noted Spanish trade expert Inigo Montoya, "You keep using that word" -- reciprocal. "I do not think it means what you think it means." Mr. Lutnick celebrated two trade frameworks: an agreement with Vietnam featuring a 20-per-cent export tariff to the U.S. and a 19-per-cent tariff in the Indonesian deal. The arrangements with Indonesia and Vietnam are the opposite of reciprocal. They are asymmetrical trade, not free trade.