OTTAWA--Canadian dairy farmers and by implication their fellow poultry producers have an unexpected ally in historian and internationally renowned author John Ralston Saul.Saul came to the defence of Canadian dairy farmers in a recent article in the online publication TruthDig. In an interview with veteran writer Chris Hedges on the sorry state of American politics and government, Saul included trade deals in his wide ranging criticisms of what the Trump administration stands for.Free trade deals have focused on deregulation and “handing power to corporations and banks,” he said. “They weren't about trade.” From that he segued into supply management. “Trump has again and again attacked the Canadian dairy system,” he said. “Nobody has stopped to ask him, 'Why are you opposing this instead of adopting it for yourself?' A lot of American dairy farmers would like to have the Canadian system.“The free market approach to agriculture produces a surplus that drives prices down and destroys the income of farmers,” Saul said. “There are two ways of responding to this. One of them is subsidizing. Europe, following the old social democratic approach, subsidizes their agricultural sector. This drives down the income of farmers, so [the governments] subsidize [agriculture] more. They have enormous surpluses. Periodically, they're throwing millions of tomatoes on the streets.”While different, the American approach has the same net effect, Saul said. “The United States claims it embraces the free market, but it does the same thing as the Europeans. It too heavily subsidizes the agricultural industry. This leads to American dairy farmers producing too much milk.“This economic argument says the way to win is to mass-produce cheap goods. This is the Walmart argument. You're not selling your milk or cheese for enough to make a living. The end result is, even though you subsidize them, the farmers go bankrupt. They commit suicide. You have terrible unhappiness in the [U.S.] dairy community.“We have a very efficient management system in Canada that keeps the prices up, not so high that working-class people can't buy milk and cheese, but it keeps the prices up high enough that farmers can make a proper living,” Saul said.“Because farmers can make a proper living they're not committing suicide. What Trump is saying to Canadians is that they should give up a system that works so Canadian farmers can commit suicide with American farmers.”Saul returned to his concerns with the approach of governments. “The problem with the Western world is surplus production. We're in surplus production in almost every area. But there is a terrible distribution system where people around the globe suffer and die from starvation. This is a distribution problem, not a production problem.”America's clout and standing in the global hierarchy is being eroded by Trump's behaviour, Saul said. The imposition of tariffs and the crude insults he uses against American allies, such as calling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau dishonest and weak, is having very negative political, economic and social consequences for the U.S.Trump's decision to launch a trade war with America's key allies is an example of the damage a despot who has little understanding of the economy, politics, international relations or law, he said.The result is the U.S.'s trading partners and allies will reduce their dependence on the American market and the traditional strategic and political ties to Washington will be steadily weakened. When the next financial crash comes, the United States will be bereft of partners when it needs them most, Saul said. “If you treat your closest allies as a threat, who is going to stand with you?“What's sad about it is Americans take it for granted that the world loves them,” Saul said. “They've never analyzed the responsibilities that come with being the leader. It's what you expect from a good parent. You act in a certain way.“People want to identify with the United States. It's been that way since the Second World War. All this is being thrown away.”Alex Binkley is a freelance journalist and writes for domestic and international publications about agriculture, food and transportation issues. He's also the author of two science fiction novels with more in the works.