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Lay Off Canada, Eh
So Trump is about to impose a 25% tariff on all goods imported from Canada. This has serious ramifications for both our countries. At least 30 states trade more with Canada than any other country. The US imports 5 million barrels of Canadian oil per day, and no, the US cannot replace that internally. The auto industry has been heavily integrated for decades, with cars and parts crossing the border multiple times in some cases (and yes, I was surprised to hear that). I think one advantage for the US car companies is they can pay Canadians somewhat less and also don’t have to fund their health care. This would take years and billions to unravel. Also, the US imports a lot of steel and aluminum from us, which, again, cannot be replaced domestically.
The ostensible reasons for this are the border and drugs, which is a reasonable concern. In response, our government has allocated billions of dollars and thousands more border patrol agents. I’m not sure what more we can realistically be expected to do, at least in the short term.
Maybe someone should tell him that Canada is about 1% of the influx of migrants and drugs, with most of it coming from Mexico. We also get migrants entering Canada from the US, though I am not sure how the numbers compare.
Trump says Canada has been ripping off the US. Well, we are both operating under the USMCA which replaced NAFTA while not being very different. Trump himself signed that bill and proclaimed it the best trade deal ever only a few short years ago.
It’s clear Trump despises Justin Trudeau and Chrystia Freeland (Finance Minister.) Well, until now they were soon to be replaced by a much better Conservative government led by Pierre Polievre. They were 20% ahead in the polls until just a couple of weeks ago. Trudeau is about to be replaced by Mark Carney, who thinks all the same things Trudeau does but is WAY smarter. Polls are now neck and neck and there is likely to be an election soon, which I believe the Liberals will win.
Trump complains that Polievre is “not MAGA, not a Trump guy.” Of course not, that would be the kiss of electoral death for any politician in Canada, especially now. The Liberals know this, so their ads are all saying that’s exactly what Polievre is, and they seem to be effective.
I am hoping that these threats are being used to throw his opponents off balance and that Trump will not actually go through with it, as has often been the case so far. But I worry that he will use us as an example, “pour encourager les autres.” If he can screw the US’s best and friendliest neighbour and ally like that, then nobody can rest easy.
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Who knows what he’s actually going to do? A lot folk say his advisors are pushing for reciprocating tariffs, not across-the-board tariffs. Again, who knows?
Why would any foreign politician put “Make America Great Again” at the top of their priority list? That’s America’s job.
Not sure what you fixed, that is exactly what I said. And I don’t know what you mean by “reciprocating” as any existing tariffs are part of USMCA which he approved of. He’s talking unilateral and across-the-board tariffs on top of anything else.
My heart and my gut instincts are with the Canucks on this one. On Trump’s backroom intentions, and the actual results of all this, I don’t know.
The bluster over Greenland and Panama are unlikely to be territory grabs, but warnings-with-teeth that the US won’t accept a Chinese state-linked presence at strategic chokeholds of North America. Getting tough with Mexico and China was inevitable. Canada’s a special case, and even if some softening up for hard bargaining was needed, they are, IMHO, one of the least likely nations in the world to insult. We like the place, we like the people. Even if a better border security deal or tariffs emerge at the end of the process, the abrasiveness was not needed, at least anywhere to that degree.
The second factor pointed out here is the hammering effect this is having on Pierre Poilievre, the one Canadian politician who American conservatives readily understand and admire. How the hell could we derail him and shrug it off as unavoidable collateral damage?
The problem I have with Canadian caterwauling on this issue is that our northern cousins are some of the most protectionist people on the face of the earth. Everything from the CRTC’s media content rules to protectionist tariffs that predate anything from the Trump Administration.
The Canadian food market is stacked against US imports. And they often dump milk products on the market, angering their trade partners.
I’ve bolded the edit.
OK that was a bit subtle. I hope you are right and he gets what he wants without the tariff.
Cannot be IMMEDIATELY replaced. But we’ve made steel and aluminum before, and can do so – and more of it – again, if we want to.
You know there’s a way to avoid all these tariffs, right? It’s to formally acknowledge Canada’s status as the 51st state. No internal tariffs.
I like that Trump is waking up all these Western countries. It used to be that the was built on Western Enlightenment and rule by an for the people and innovation and prosperity. Now, most Western countries are built on elites extracting wealth while their countries are declining. Europe has been technologically stagnant for 2 generations. This is a wake-up call. Let’s make Western countries great again.
And at a higher price.
It was kind of funny the first time that Trump called Trudeau Justine and the governor of the Great State of Canada. But the shtick is getting old, and it’s backfiring and will get Trudeau’s Liberal party re-elected. But sometimes Trump can’t get out of his own way. He can be his own worst enemy. He does a lot of good for America, but sometimes he does serious damage to our interests as well.
I totally agree with you and I don’t like it, but the current regime in place was approved by Trump. I’m all for renegotiating and getting rid of our bloody marketing boards which protect a few farmers against the interests of everybody else, but Quebec won’t let us. Also it makes it impossible for us to make any other trade deals, eg with the EU or UK.
Our CRTC has gone nuts regulating media and the Internet and should be pared back to its original purpose: allocating radio spectrum.
That would take one hell of a constitutional amendment! And I would hold out for 5 states: BC, AB+SK+MB, ON, QC and NB+NS+PE+NL. Are you guys sure you want another 10 guaranteed Democrat senators?
A lot comes from Quebec which has really cheap electricity.
Agree, it was amusing at first, but is only contributing to the Liberals’ reelection.
Yep. If Canada was merged into the US as one state, it would have roughly the population and center-left political stance as another California. (I live in Santa Monica; by and large Ricochet doesn’t even want one of us, let alone the electoral effects of two of us.) And there’s no way Canada would come in as one state. The 51st-55th states, and BTW, Quebec doesn’t play well with others.
Paid by people who have more money because they’re making steel/aluminum instead of Big Macs…
Y’all drive a hard bargain but I’m willing to admit Canada as a territory too.
One reason why steel/aluminum plants in the US tended to be located near hydroelectric facilities.
13 territories or it’s no deal!
Fine, as long as they remain territories forever. No votes in Congress.
I’d say we need to unify the two Sault-Ste.-Maries under one flag, but I don’t want to reignite Ricochet’s SSM wars…
Look, I’d be willing to cut all kinds of tariffs, stop making politeness jokes, even say nice things about Canadian Whiskey if you’d just get rid of that idiot Trudeau.
He has resigned and will be gone soon, but will be replaced by a very much smarter version of the same policies.
Can someone be very much smarter, and still have those policies?
Yeah, that’s what I was wondering, but Trudeau.
It’s paid for by you and me every time we buy something that contains steel or aluminum.
It all spreads around.
Another argument about how tariffs work? I’m going to drift back into making stupid jokes instead.
I’m in favor of prohibitively high tariffs on aluminium along side no tariffs on aluminum.