POLITICS: Trump should consider a common market with Canada

As President Donald Trump continues to toy (troll?) with the idea of Canada becoming the 51st state, he should consider a better option: Build a common market with our neighbors to the north.

That’s a lot more in line with the statehood idea than hitting the country with a barrage of tariffs.

A deal to let labor, goods and capital flow freely both ways would be a boon to both economies, similar to the early days of European economic integration, before European Union bureaucrats started regulating industries within an inch of their lives.

And it would avoid the drawbacks of the statehood approach — two more senators for the Democrats and the yoke of absorbing a relatively sluggish economy. (If it joined the union, Canada would be the fourth poorest state.)

The key is to make it true free trade, not a complex mess of red tape: The two nations could then act as a bloc when it came to tariffs and freedom of movement with other countries as well.

Indeed, Ronald Reagan endorsed a common market with Canada in his 1980 presidential campaign before negotiating the more limited Canada-US Free Trade Agreement.

The two economies are already heavily intertwined.

Much of America’s cattle are born state-side before being shipped across the northern border to graze, then shipped back to be processed; auto parts (which Trump just targeted for a 25% tariff) make a similar back-and-forth journey en route to finished vehicles.

Smoothing out such transfers would boost profits and efficiency in dozens of industries.

And national security needn’t be compromised: Free movement of labor could simply mean that citizens are seamlessly hired at companies in either country without the fuss of visas; quick passport checks at the border could continue.

In negotiations, Washington could insist that Ottawa strengthen its immigration screening for terrorists and criminals — and allow for the sharing of technology, databases and security training.

The White House would have the leverage to demand it: Canada would likely jump at the chance of a common market, since a whopping 80% of the country’s exports come here.

Opening up trade with Canada makes a lot more sense, and would benefit Americans a lot more, than a trade war or the other extreme of statehood.

Go for the best of both worlds, Mr. President, and seal a legacy-making deal instead.