The Financial Post reports in its Saturday, Jan. 11, edition that Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce economist Avery Shenfeld has been downplaying the "annex Canada" threat from president-elect Donald Trump. A Postmedia dispatch to the Post reports that Mr. Shenfeld says, "The actual risk is simply that the Trump administration will hit our economy, and others, with tariffs as a means of protecting American industry, or as a way of raising government revenues, largely on the back of American consumers, to cover some of the fiscal cost of other tax cuts." He adds that this could mean cutting into Canadian export volumes and slashing capital spending in export industries. He highlights Mr. Trump's first term, during which Canada experienced a significant drop in steel exports due to tariffs and two years of declining manufacturing capital spending amid concerns over NAFTA. Mr. Shenfeld says, "Canada will try to use both the carrot (pledges for tighter border controls, increased defence spending, and addressing selected trade irritants), and the stick (tariffs on U.S. exports to Canada and becoming less co-operative in other policy areas) to convince the Trump administration to stand down on its trade threat."