If you look at them as an attack on the US, everything makes a lot more sense.
Foreign government's have an easy solution to solve the problem.
Don't unfairly advantage your goods and services against American products and we won't do the same. Free trade shouldn't mean "Free trade for one side". Free trade should be contingent on reciprocity, both in terms of social and economic alignment.
Trump stated that the Canadian tariffs were a reaction to fentanyl crossing the Canadian border into the US.
That has nothing to do with trade fairness or Canadian protectionism.
By now it's clear that "fair" in this administration is defined by whoever is the biggest bully in the room, so
> unfairly advantage your goods and services against American products
is just a fancy way to say: "let us push you around."
The US just isn't planning things anymore and trying to justify it makes people look silly.