Trade War

Trade war is now underway. Trump's announcement of tariffs on Canadian goods is very destructive to the Canadian economy. I know tariffs are on other countries as well, but frankly, I don't care - I don't live in those countries. Trudeau's hubris and rank stupidity have led us to this point. We've been a terrible security partner to the United States, quietly living under their nuclear umbrella whilst shirking our NATO commitments, leaving our borders open for smugglers of all descriptions to cross unimpeded. Canada can no longer even participate in NATO exercises because we don't have enough functional equipment to field a pretend army to play.

We have a government that has us in a Munchausen by proxy relationship. The government demonstrates its love for its citizens by weakening them, and driving them into poverty and then death... In Canada today, 1 death in 20 is assisted suicide.

The circus clowns of the Liberal government will naturally retaliate in some way. They'd gladly sacrifice jobs in Alberta's oil patch in the desperate hope of saving a shift at the GM plant in Oshawa. In reality, those jobs are already lost. The notice of plant closure is probably already in the mail, but UAW hasn't received it yet.

GM is in big trouble right now - they're going to be forced to recall nearly a million trucks that have engines that may randomly grenade and need replacement. Chrysler/Stellantis is openly trying to sell their Brampton Assembly plant, BYD appraisers have toured the plant, but even without this trade war, I don't think that deal will fly. Canadian wages are too high, and productivity too low for the Chinese overlords to tolerate. So I think they'll pass on North America until the uncertainties have settled down. Europeans like electric cars more, anyhow.

If you haven't been following auto industry news, GM's L87 V8 engine, particularly the 6.2 L version, can suddenly self-destruct — throwing piston rods that can destroy the engine block. Nearly a million trucks and SUVs are at risk... GM is currently not producing enough engines to meet the demand for warranty replacements and assembly lines... I'd say it's a simple solution: close the assembly lines— they have a 6-month supply of cars at dealers already... Push all your engines into the recall program, and satisfy your existing customers ASAP.

Some dealers still have 2023 models they want to move.

I honestly expect the Canadian auto industry to be decimated by the end of the year. Not by this trade war but by simple economics. Canadian plants are too expensive to operate. The auto industry simply has too much capacity; the least productive of that capacity gets killed first... Now in the upcoming election, Trudeau can blame Trump for the failure of the auto industry, and run against Trump instead of Poilievre. This is his best possible chance of holding onto official opposition status.