The rest of us are perplexed and dismayed that we’re doing something so asinine to one of our two ride-or-die allies that we have in the world (the other being the UK). And who generally plays so nicely with us in trade, culture, etc…
I mean, the Canadians I’ve met have been lovely people. From the elderly rural Canadians who lived somewhere outside Edmonton, to their grandson who I went to grad school with, to the delightful couple from Ontario who my family and I sat next to and got to know on our flight to Alaska, they were all terrific.
This isn’t fair, and it’s not how you treat friends. Most of us know that, but apparently not all.
No, they personally have no beef with Canada. They just voted for the guy who lies and said he’d end inflation and give them cheaper eggs. Starting an economic war with Canada wasnt part of his campaign.
NYT: “To Trump, Tariffs Are Not a Means but an End.” Trump thinks tariffs are a good way of raising revenue: he maintains the burden falls on foreigners. Economists disagree, but the only experts Trump listens to are legal ones. Sometimes.
Trump also cares about the stock market. I say he might cave if it enters correction territory next week.
ETA:
Nor were 25% tariffs: Trump promised 10% tariffs across the board with 60% on China. Now Trump is going easy on China and hitting the US’s most faithful allies hard.
I don’t see any protests about this though. Canada needs to review its security posture.
I want to echo this and humbly apologize as well for the insanity, stupidity, and cruelty that seem to animate so many of your neighbors to the south. It must be like living next to a meth lab + crack house.
I live in mostly blue New England. If/when you folks shut off the electric power from Quebec, we’re going to suffer too. Though I can’t blame you for doing it, if that happens.
Trudeau probably thinks electricity cutoff would alienate potentially pro-Canadian Americans (obviously does not apply to you), and raise the possibility of the U.S. increasing the tariff above 25 percent. Trump could even use electricity cutoff as an excuse for a U.S. invasion of Canada.
Not only is the United States an unreliable partner, but it is actively trying to harm some of its staunchest allies. The rest of the world cannot trust us and should avoid entering any sort of agreement with us insomuch as that’s possible. I fully expect Canada and other nations to make other arrangements both militarily and economically in a direction away from the U.S. Trump is making the United States weaker both economically and militarily.
And of course, Canada will need cash to help its citizens, and higher electricity rates mean more cash. I mean, why cut off one of the things with the lowest elasticity of demand? Jack the rates, keep the money.
Oh yeah, I completely agree. Of course between Trump’s evisceration of our public health infrastructure and the fact that wars tend to spread disease and promote epidemics, invading Canada will only make the bird flu problem worse. And that won’t lower the price of eggs.
Because if prices went up on almost everything in Walmart by 25% overnight the public would instantly freak out. Other supply lines will take longer to show effect. May be a smaller portion of a product or service. Made in Canada is a smaller portion of what a US consumer buys right off the shelf.
Also Canada and Mexico export a larger portion of their product to the US. It hurts them more. US is about 15% of China exports. It would hurt China less, US more.
I’m going to quote Milton Friedman, because when someone I so thoroughly disagrees with is onto something I do agree with, it’s not just my own opinion of where this leading.
“Inflation is a monetary phenomenon. But hyperinflation is always and everywhere a political phenomenon, in the sense that it cannot occur without a fundamental malfunction of a country’s political economy.”
What Trump has going for him is that a large economy like that in the US has a tremendous amount of inertia – it takes time for the Orange Wrecking Ball to wreak its havoc. By the time he’s caused the US economy to collapse, Trump, if still alive, will be out of office and will be holding rallies blaming the (likely) Democratic president for the disaster he caused.