Oh, sweet summer child. Go to another supplier from where? Canada? That particular stopper to raising their prices is gone and only their good will (Ha!) is stopping them now.
I used to believe in the free market. Then I got radicalized.
So, back when the trade talks collapsed, there was some “He said She said” stuff going back and forth about who insisted on last-minute additions to the deal. A big one was a rumour that the US wanted a veto over Canada signing new trade deals with third party nations. Trump et al. of course denied any such thing.
But then there’s this:
Canada just talks about the possibility of closer ties to the EU, and suddenly we’re all attacking the US (again).
Susan Collins, Republican senator from Maine, recently jumped on the Trump bandwagon by warning Canada against establishing closer trade relations with the EU.
In other news, the Orange Horror is now moving to cancel all US Government purchases from Canada. The amount of such purchases is estimated at around $1.5 billion annually.
There is no excuse for Congress letting him do this. There’s no excuse for Congress letting him do any number of horrible things, including waging his idiotic war, commiting war crimes against civilians in the Pacific and engaging in open corruption. But this is going to hit their voters hard. You’d think they’d object even slightly. Their cowardice knows no depths.
If one considers the metaphor of a bull in a china shop to be an appropriate description of the Trump regime, Congress is like the owner of the shop, nominally responsible for keeping it secure and in good order, cowering in the basement and getting drunk while the chaos unfolds upstairs.
They made him King, not president. They don’t want a say.
If you’re refering to thsi article Republican senator warns Carney against tightening Canada's links to European Union | CBC News that’s not what she’s saying.
Sen. Susan Collins … says it’s unfortunate that Canada is turning toward the EU in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
“That doesn’t help rebuild the good relationship that we once had and that I want us to have again,”
Collins says she believes Canada deepening its ties with Europe could make it harder for the Carney government to reach a deal with the Trump administration to end the escalating trade war.
“I believe that both Canada and the United States should return to the bargaining table. I do not support this tariff war,” Collins said.
Collins is a spineless weathervane but her statements are more about how Canada/EU relationship could make ti difficult to return to unwinding the tariffs. That would be my guess as to why she leans towards “Don’t upset the abusive husband, he might punch you” approach
The fact that if the US was the US from even 4 years ago allies deepening ties wouldn’t even be a concern. However since the GOP/Incel/Spartan wankery right wing fuckwittery seems to consider the EU as a threat, deepening ties means those nefarious Canucks will become a border hugging threat.
Yeah, she has to go.
Congress has objected to the “war”- seven GOP Congressmember even crossed the aisle. But they can not stop the tariffs, as if they do, trump will veto it.
Only if we’re still dealing with Trump. And with Trump still in charge, it will be difficult even if we swore off this new EU proposal.
Once Trump is gone, and the US gets a new, hopefully more normal, President, the existence of a new arrangement between Canada and the EU should have little effect on our dealings with the US. The US can drop their stupid tariffs any time they want, and Canadians will be quite happy to sell to them again. We’ll just be selling to Europe as well. It’s not like we’re going to run out of oil and potash any time soon. If there’s greater demand due to expanding new trade relationships, we’ll just add capacity, as we’re doing right now.
Yes, it would be stupid for Canada not to accept a relationship with the EU. To expect them to take Trump’s abuse because it might stop someday is also ridiculous.
While simultaneously saying that she is opposed to the trade war Trump started. Senator Collins is responsible for 1. Maine and 2 Federal legislation. She should stay in her lane.
However, as a US Senator, if she’s really interested in stopping the trade war, she could introduce legislation (or get a member of the House to introduce legislation) that amended the laws, passed by Congress, with which Trump is imposing tariffs.
It wouldn’t pass, but as an American voter, I would love to see an up/down vote on that. Ideally before the midterms.
Or, she could actually vote to convict him next time he’s impeached.
US Senators are some of the most powerful people in the world, and it kills me when they act like there’s nothing they can do as the world turns to shit around them.
She can and has done something! Collins can & will furrow her brow and look concerned as she rubber stamps the next MAGA bill. 
She counts the votes. If she isn’t needed to back Donnie, his appointments or his actions, she’ll take a "principled’ stand to back up her furrowed brow.
To give her credit, she did vote to convict him in 2021 at least (she voted to acquit in 2020). It’s damning with very faint praise indeed, but she’s still genuinely one of the better national-level Republicans holding office. Which means she only sucks like a bilge pump on a run-down scow. Rather than an industrial-sized sewer pump like most of her fellow travelers in the party.
Moderating:
Talking about Collin’s sudden embrace of Trump’s stance on Canada and the EU is on topic. We have now had four posts in a row about her US based voting record or general compliance, with nary a mention of how Canada was involved, all replying to each other to the detriment of the thread.
The P&E Mods noted in a recent, now closed thread that people seem to be ignoring the notes about topicality. Let’s not have that happen here or there will be warnings.
Take it to a thread about Collins, Trump, or his Administration.
An Atlantic article from Cynthia Freeland…
Excerpt:
“The best metaphor for trade negotiations may be trying to arrange a marriage. Countries come to the table with friendly intentions, hoping to form a partnership. The pressure is to make a deal, not to block one, and if they don’t succeed, that is a cause for sorrow, not anger.”
“Donald Trump has changed all of that. He has turned trade deals from negotiations about marriage to threats of divorce.”
“Before Trump, the Western consensus had long been that free trade made individual countries richer overall, and the world richer too. Trump does not believe that. More importantly, his trade negotiations aren’t only, or even mostly, about trade. They are about domestic politics and geopolitics, and, above all, they are about staging a drama in which he, and America, wins. Trump is trying to turn trade from a win-win relationship to a battle for dominance over adversaries and a protection racket for friends. This is trade policy as per Roald Dahl’s Matilda rather than Adam Smith.”
“The organizing principle for this MAGA administration is that countries need to pay for the right to sell things to the United States. They can pay quite literally, through tariffs. They can pay by pledging investments in the U.S. And they can pay with actions that have no connection to trade but that the White House wants. Most of America’s allies have simply capitulated—accepting harmful and unjust tariffs or offering other forms of tribute…”
And there’s the problem, in the penultimate word. “Cynthia” is a girl name.
Then-MP Freeland negotiated CUSMA (naively believing Americans can keep their word). She did much better than the Donald; the representative of the US. The USA is a communist country; it has to give massive government subsidizes to farmers or they will get a Sad and stuff. Canada is, as America’s representative points out (and 1 in four Americans seem to agree) has this thing where farmers work for a living. Government in Canada does this Canadian thing and establishes a regulatory framework where it’s a living. Freeland won. Overwhelmingly. (We do not get to speculate: Trump power whines about it once a week). Trump was beaten by a girl. He knows it. We know it. MAGA knows it. 2 of those groups of people hate it.
It’s personal for your boy (and if you’re an American, he’s your boy). And for his followers.
[NITPICK]Chrystia.[/NITPICK]
I’ve been familiar with her since way back in her journalism days.
thank you. It even felt wrong to type it.