“I don’t know if it’s only coincidence or the fact that the Bush administration would be closer to a number of industrial sectors, but we have had more disputes between Canada and the U.S. in the past year than we have had in the past few years,” says the 50-year-old Pettigrew, who challenges Washington to put its money where its mouth is on free trade. The U.S. has imposed punitive duties against Canadian softwood exports and is weighing a similar action against Canadian wheat exports. Pettigrew isn’t the only trade minister sparring with the U.S. , the Bush administration is involved in disputes over foreign steel and Mexican sugar and trucking, and is also at loggerheads with the EU over export taxes. As for his country’s languishing currency, Pettigrew says: “The problem is not the Canadian dollar’s weakness, it is the American dollar’s strength. Even the day after September 11, the dollar went up. We are totally with the Americans in this war; we even sent soldiers to Afghanistan. I’m only saying this to explain the irrationality with which the world looks at the greenback.”
