After a lengthy meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump’s top trade officials on Thursday, Canadian representatives say they have a clearer understanding of the rationale behind Trump’s insistence on tariffs — not just on Canada but on the whole world.

Newly minted Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has panned the idea of Canada becoming America’s 51st state amid tensions about a an all-out trade war between the neighboring nations.

On the sunlit porch of a farmhouse in the Canadian province of Alberta, Don Casselman planted his feet, gripped a laminated document and began to read aloud.