# The United States Declares Economic War on Canada **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [February 1, 2025, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-declares-economic-war-on-canada/1013734 "2025-02-01T21:16:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 25
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-declares-economic-war-on-canada/1013734/481 "2025-02-11T17:16:53Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > Kind of a “can you form some sort of a rudimentary lathe” to build a weapon while the rock monster is staring right at you. Hat tip for excellent reference. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-declares-economic-war-on-canada/1013734/482 "2025-02-11T17:20:34Z")
> [@Kropotkin](#): > > Anyway, it was not meant to be taken seriously but to help us think through these questions of scales and popular resistance by way of a thought experiment, admittedly a ludicrous one. Hard to tell in this thread… At any rate, it is a good idea to think about things with an increasingly unreliable neighbor to the south. The best time to have those sorts of questions about expenditures and planning was at least a couple decades ago. The next best time is now. Tempered, of course, by what is actually possible. You fight with the army you have, not the one you wish you had. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-declares-economic-war-on-canada/1013734/483 "2025-02-11T17:24:40Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > Let’s say we have 10,000 weapons available. We use those 10,000 to train the first 10,000 volunteers. The US 101st Division alone has 18,000 armed, trained people in it. This number is a little daunting. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-declares-economic-war-on-canada/1013734/484 "2025-02-11T17:25:03Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > Hard to tell in this thread… Good point. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-declares-economic-war-on-canada/1013734/485 "2025-02-11T18:04:31Z")
> [@Kropotkin](#): > > The US 101st Division alone has 18,000 armed, trained people in it. This number is a little daunting. The US Army does not fight by divisions any more. They’re a holdover from earlier wars and are now just paper units. They won’t get rid of that particular division because of its storied history, but they won’t send it into battle as a unit. Anyway, one thing to consider about a potential US-Canadian war is that the US Army is not positioned to invade Canada. A larger fraction of its combat units are in other countries and those that are stateside are mostly located in the South. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-declares-economic-war-on-canada/1013734/486 "2025-02-11T18:14:58Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > fraction of its combat units are in other countries and those that are stateside are mostly located in the South A 24 hour drive from Miami to Toronto! Of course clearing customs would slow that down. ---
**Author:** ![Slight\_Off\_Hand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@Slight\_Off\_Hand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slight_Off_Hand)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-declares-economic-war-on-canada/1013734/487 "2025-02-11T18:22:08Z")
Now Trump is floating a 100% tariff on Canadian cars. > **[Trump threatens Canadian cars with tariffs up to 100% - National | Globalnews.ca](https://globalnews.ca/news/11013600/donald-trump-canadian-cars-tariff/)** > > In an sit-down interview with Fox News, U.S. President Donald Trump said Canada “stole” the automobile industry from the United States. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-declares-economic-war-on-canada/1013734/488 "2025-02-11T18:22:43Z")
> [@Kropotkin](#): > > A 24 hour drive from Miami to Toronto! Army units don’t travel anywhere near that fast. More like a couple months minimum just to go from Fort Bragg Liberty (some other) Bragg to the Canadian border. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-declares-economic-war-on-canada/1013734/489 "2025-02-11T18:23:45Z")
Don’t fight the hypothetical! (Kidding! I’m outta here, I have nothing useful to add) ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-declares-economic-war-on-canada/1013734/490 "2025-02-11T18:24:33Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > The US Army does not fight by divisions any more. They’re a holdover from earlier wars and are now just paper units. They won’t get rid of that particular division because of its storied history, but they won’t send it into battle as a unit. > > Anyway, one thing to consider about a potential US-Canadian war is that the US Army is not positioned to invade Canada. It wouldn’t be at all hard for them to move into position reasonably quickly. You don’t need to get the entirety of the armed services into position; it would take a fraction of their strength to pull off the initial operation. ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-declares-economic-war-on-canada/1013734/491 "2025-02-11T18:26:01Z")
lol, why such an inflated number? Didn’t think 25% would do the job? I mean who, in their right mind, would pay an extra 25% on a tens of thousands dollar car? 100% I guess would discourage those stragglers. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-declares-economic-war-on-canada/1013734/492 "2025-02-11T18:28:54Z")
> [@orcenio](#): > > lol, why such an inflated number? Didn’t think 25% would do the job? Because Elon Musk wants his competitors destroyed. It cannot possibly be more obvious. ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-declares-economic-war-on-canada/1013734/493 "2025-02-11T18:32:26Z")
Couldn’t be more obvious. 100% tariff on a car is to just plain ban all Canadian cars. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-declares-economic-war-on-canada/1013734/494 "2025-02-11T18:54:52Z")
> [@Kropotkin](#): > > The US 101st Division alone has 18,000 armed, trained people in it. This number is a little daunting Well, yes, that is the fundamental problem for us. No matter what we do, the US will always be able to out-spend us, and field more soldiers. It’s not a question of can we win, but can we cost the US enough in the process of losing that they decide it’s not even worth the effort? ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-declares-economic-war-on-canada/1013734/495 "2025-02-11T19:19:29Z")
> [@Kropotkin](#): > > A 24 hour drive from Miami to Toronto! Of course clearing customs would slow that down. The CBSA would tie up that column of tanks, asking every single one if they have cigarettes or tabaco to declare. In the meantime, I could get behind enemy lines by using my NEXUS card and telling them that I am just going shopping at Trader Joe’s. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-declares-economic-war-on-canada/1013734/496 "2025-02-11T22:25:44Z")
No such thing as a Canadian car under USMCA. A crankshaft crosses the borders seven or eight times. No conflict at all if Musk is involved in making decisions affecting the auto sector. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2025, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-declares-economic-war-on-canada/1013734/497 "2025-02-17T21:59:24Z")
I really hate that we can’t link directly to videos. But at least I can see how many people clicked on it. [Charlie Angus Message to Donald Trump: we won’t kiss the gangster ring](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJEM5nMsyPU) In a nutshell [paraphrasing]: ‘The United States is no longer our ally.’ ‘Thank you, Canadians for not buying American products.’ ‘States are in full panic mode over tourism. Right now there are $2 billion and 140,000 American jobs at risk… if just 10% of Canadians cancel their trips.’ ‘Oh, Gregg Abbott is going to teach Canada a lesson? We have $400 million in travel that goes to Texas. How about we teach _you_ a lesson? We’ve got better places to go than Texas.’ ‘Canada is the largest export market for American bourbon and whiskey. It’s going to hurt the distillers when we don’t buy their products.’ ‘We will never, ever, ever, kiss the ring of that gangster from Mar-a-Lago.’ Good message. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-declares-economic-war-on-canada/1013734/498 "2025-02-20T21:27:25Z")
Canadian tourism to US is down; US jobs will be lost. Canadians redirecting tourism to Mexico and Caribbean. > **[US Tariffs Spark Devastating Canadian Travel Boycott Threatening Michigan’s...](https://www.travelandtourworld.com/news/article/us-tariffs-spark-devastating-canadian-travel-boycott-threatening-michigans-tourism-industry/)** > > US tariffs have triggered a devastating Canadian travel boycott, putting Michigan's tourism industry at risk with potential revenue losses and economic turmoil. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-declares-economic-war-on-canada/1013734/499 "2025-02-20T21:32:00Z")
They should redirect to Cuba. Those Socialist Canadians are allowed. The United States is a Free Country™ which is why we’re _not_ allowed to travel there freely. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2025, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-declares-economic-war-on-canada/1013734/500 "2025-02-20T21:35:58Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I really hate that we can’t link directly to videos. We absolutely can; you just have to do some shenanigans with Discourse and the posting window, as [I described over in an ATMB thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cant-imbed-yt-refs-in-a-post/1010977/2). Here’s your video. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ZJEM5nMsyPU/maxresdefault.jpg "Charlie Angus Message to Donald Trump: we won't kiss the gangster ring") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJEM5nMsyPU) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-declares-economic-war-on-canada/1013734.md?page=24) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-united-states-declares-economic-war-on-canada/1013734.md?page=26)