Right. And I’m hoping GM and Ford (whom I must assume do not like this) will, the moment they see the first impact, announce huge layoffs. The amount of cross border auto manufacturing that goes on is staggering.
Thanks, a very British insult.
They’re pulling your leg here.
All sadly true.
I’m beginning to think Trump is looking at Canada the way Putin was looking at Ukraine a few years ago.
Personally, I could handle a week or two in the dark to get this bullshit over with in a civilized fashion, but there are no more guarantees and most people are less prepared than I am to rough it.
^ I also agree with the above.
Trump would just fire everyone in the Fed and attempt to replace them with Trump loyalists. Or Elon will say we didn’t need that department anyway, throw the whole thing out.
I was wondering what the end game for Trump was on the Canadian tariffs, but I guess he really does want them to join the United State and thinks this will help. Apparently we’ve been subsidizing Canada for years now.
What does this have to do with Musk? Trump is the one declaring economic war on Canada/Mexico. And from what I understand this will largely affect Asian brands that are made in Canada and Mexico, so a net gain for Musk.
That he hasn’t already done?
What I am having a huge amount of trouble understanding is what exactly is Trump’s issue with us? I have to assume that this is some bizarre personal issue with Trump himself.
Is he still pissed off at Justin from the G7 conference in 2018 (Redirect Notice)? Is it something that petty? None of this makes any sense.
Suppose Trump actually, seriously, wants us as a 51st state. Would that end up costing the US more than it costs them now to “subsidize” us? One could argue that, at the moment, we are informally being subcontracted to look after everything north of the Canada-US border. If the US were to take over and occupy us, is it possible that this would cost the US more?
Actually, it’s ‘Eat a bag of dicks.’
I was going for a translation of ‘Thou may ingest a satchel of Richards.’
Shouldn’t it be illegal to renege on the trade agreement we already have with Canada and Mexico? Putting aside that frump himself is the one who signed it, which adds another rotten cherry on top of this sundae of destruction. Not sure who would be able to legally dispute this, though. It’s so frustrating that whenever “he” does something against the law, everybody either slow walks it (like with his criminal cases) or when he violates a treaty, law, whatever, as president, everybody goes, “Oh, well, there’s no mechanism to actually do anything about it. Just hold on for the ride to hell.”
Well, who is calling the shots? Trump, Bannon or Musk?
This is true. Trump did not campaign on starting an economic war with Canada, or on making Canada a 51st state, or on invading Greenland, or on a military attack on the Panama Canal.
But even if he had, it wouldn’t have mattered. There’s a hard-core % in America that is going to go along with him no matter what. He once said he could shoot someone dead on 5th Avenue in NYC, and it wouldn’t matter. And he’s basically right.
Canada doesn’t deserve anything like this.
TBH, Canada is probably our best ally. You guys were a huge part of the Allies in WW2. You have been a reliable trading partner for many decades. You have kept a peaceful border with us. You helped us during the Iran Hostage affair. You helped us after 911, as part of NATO. Canada is as good a friend in the entire world that the US has.
And this is how we treat you guys.
It’s inexcusable, and I’m ashamed to be an American today.
It’s hard to figure out.
But bizarre personal issues explain a lot. Maybe some armchair psychologist wants to start with this:
Donald Trump’s grandfather ran Canadian brothel during gold rush, author says | CBC News
January 6, and the previous events related to that election, were, thus far, an even greater existential threat to America than all the foreign policy specific actions* that Trump has taken thus far. And the people did not reject that. They voted for someone who tried to violently overthrow the US government. So they definitely would still have voted for someone with a hyperaggressive foreign policy.
*I think that in total, the actions after the election are close enough to the gravity of the attempt to overthrow democracy that I would not quibble one way or the other. But you’d have to include the deliberate disruption of the executive branch to get there.
This story is the number one headline news on radio, TV and newspapers here in Ireland, with plenty of discussion and analysis of what the end of free trade will mean for our small open economy, especially when Mr Trump next turns his attention, as promised, to the European Union.
It would be paid for by the reduction in healthcare costs.
Melania thinks Trudeau is hot.
Unfortunately, any effort to try satisfying Trump’s demands is something of a fool’s errand as anything Trump wants is chimeric and based on anything other than logic. It would be impossible to keep following whatever whimsical goalposts he would have.
Some polling results about American and Canadian views on the US actions.
A poll on US respondents, taken around the time of trump’s inauguration:
And a long article from CBC that reviews US business leaders and economists and finds little support for tariffs (although Trump republicans seem to support them):
On the Canadian side, there is strong general opposition to the tariffs and the talk of annexation, from business, labour, and Canadians generally. Looks like strong support for the federal retaliatory tariffs: