As U.S. President Donald Trump was getting set to sign an executive order that would hit Canadian industry hard, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was getting tough on Trump, but for the wrong reason.

Trudeau wasn’t speaking out against Trump on his latest protectionist move, the PM was speaking out against a series of tweets from Trump denouncing his Democratic opponents.

“I think Canadians and indeed people around the world know exactly what I think about those particular comments. That is not how we do things in Canada,” Trudeau said in response to the tweets.

Trudeau didn’t jump in and call the tweets racist after Trump hit back at a group of congresswomen on the far left of the Democratic Party.

“Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came. Then come back and show us how it is done,” Trump tweeted in part.

There is plenty that is wrong with Trump’s tweets but there is also plenty wrong with Trudeau’s response.

First off, has he met Quebec?

The province Trudeau calls home, the one he represents in the House of Commons, recently passed Bill 21, which would make it illegal for Congresswoman Ilona Omar to wear her hijab at work. The PM has now spoken out more stridently against a tweet by the American president than he has against an actual bigoted and unconstitutional law in his own country.

Secondly, why isn’t he speaking out against Trump’s job killing moves that will undoubtedly hurt actual Canadians and cost jobs?

The latest executive order from the president increases the overall requirement that infrastructure projects be made up of American made goods from 50% to 75%. That requirement actually jumps to 95% for any steel or iron used in a project.

“We’re standing up for the American worker like our country has never stood up for the worker before,” Trump said, as he signed the order.

Where is Trudeau in standing up for Canadian workers?

Last week, when more than 600 jobs were lost at Bombardier rail plants in Ontario and Quebec due to protectionist measures, the only jobs Trudeau and his crew were standing up for were their own. Rather than picking up the phone and calling Trump, Trudeau’s team issued a news release blaming those job losses on a lack of transit investment by Ontario Premier Doug Ford.

It was nothing short of a lie and an attempt to cover up what has been Trudeau’s failure in fixing problems in trade deals.

Why were these protectionist measures not dealt with during the NAFTA renegotiations? Why was that not part of the mandate Trudeau gave to his team rather than telling them to focus on chapters about gender, indigenous rights and the environment.

While the Americans used the renegotiations to push for greater market access for their industries, Canada pushed for feel-good measures that are peripheral to trade.

Now that we are being hurt with further protectionist measures, we have no leverage left. Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer rightly blasted Trudeau for wasting an opportunity.

“When Justin Trudeau had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to negotiate a better deal for Canadians, he gave up concession after concession to Donald Trump without securing anything in return. Canada’s hard-working steel and manufacturing workers are now paying the price,” Scheer said.

Canadians deserve more than posturing by the Trudeau Liberals on trade. The policies enacted by politicians of all parties in Washington have already cost jobs and these latest moves will cost more.

Last week in Saskatoon, the premiers of all 10 provinces, plus the territories, put out a united call asking for greater leadership by the PM on this file.

That would require picking up the phone and talking to Trump rather than criticizing a tweet.

Does Trudeau have it in him? The evidence so far suggests no.