Moments ago, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney delivered the news via his X account. Discussions between the U.S and Canada have collapsed. All trade representatives are called back home. The 50% U.S. tariffs against Canada are now in effect. A trade war begins.
First, read the statement from Prime Minister Mark Carney, with the understanding that Carney is making the first statement because the news is exceptionally bad for Canada. Worse than bad.
When the 3-day tariff pause was announced, CTH said to be cautious. When USTR Jamieson Greer and Canadian negotiator Dominic LeBlanc said the terms were “basically agreed”, again CTH said be careful.
The reason for our notes of extreme caution is because the divide between the two economies and trade policy is just too big. There was no way for both sides to close the gap without major structural economic changes within Canada. The issues are not points of friction, they are just too big and embedded within the laws of Canada that would have to change.
Banking regulations would have to change. Intellectual property and media rules, regulations and laws would have to change. Industrial policy would have to change. The Canadian energy policy would have to change. The carbon trading scheme would have to change or be removed. All of this would fall upon Canada to carry out in order to position their economy in alignment with the USA. There’s literally no way for their government to accomplish this against the backdrop of their political ideology.
That was the structural argument and point made by former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. This is also why the USMCA as a trilateral trade agreement is impossible to maintain. The only trade agreement construct possible is two clearly separate bilateral free trade agreements, one with Mexico and one with Canada.
The 50% tariffs begin tonight.
A trade war is underway.
This is breaking news. More to come soon….
UPDATE: USTR Response
“Tonight, Canada declined to finalize the trade deal under the terms agreed earlier this week.
Despite the U.S. offer to Canada to receive the best treatment of any major exporter to our market, new demands and walk backs of other commitments by Canada have upended the careful balance reached in the past days. In addition, Canada is continuing to maintain its prolonged retaliation against the United States, including, among other things, flat-out prohibitions on certain American goods and services.
For decades, Canada has enjoyed the most favorable access to the U.S. market of any country. And from the beginning of President Trump’s trade program, Canada has continued to enjoy the best treatment in the world, even after – like China – retaliating against the United States. This week, the United States agreed to provide even better treatment to Canada, offering significant tariff reductions on steel, aluminum, autos, and lumber.
The U.S. offer was also forward looking, and included a historic economic and national security partnership to cooperate on export controls, combat transshipment, enhance digital trade, and align certain external tariffs. The offer would have led to supply chain coordination on aerospace, complementary actions to address unfair trade practices, critical minerals cooperation, increased enforcement against imports produced with forced labor, and the announcement of formal U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) negotiations.
This is a missed opportunity for Canada to partner with the United States, which is the fastest growing economy in the G7.”
~ U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer
Exports to USA account for 20% of Canadian GDP.
Exports to Canada account for 2% of USA GDP.
Which country will have a bigger negative economic result from a trade war? It isn’t even close. Canada needs the USA market. The USA can get lumber, oil and maple syrup domestically.
Canada looses its auto industry. Those jobs will return to the USA. Sooner or later Canadians will figure that out.
<The USA can get…maple syrup domestically.>
We have more than enough saps…just in Congress! 🙂
“…saps…just in Congress!”; a jewel presented by The Wordman.
“We have more than enough saps…just in Congress!”
From Red states, Blue states, or Purple states?
Roses are red
Violets are purple
Sugar is sweet
And so is maple syruple!
Ray Steven’s or Roger Miller?
Well dang me, I think it was Roger Miller.
Can maple syrup be Chug-a Lugged? 😉
Amazing how you just tapped into that 😉
<Amazing how you just tapped into that>
Actually, the tap was a bit stiff…
So I had to faucet 🙂
This all boils down to a very sticky situation
I can only conclude that Carney et al are counting on the Mid-terms to deliver radical political stalemate in the second half of the Trump 2nd term. They must be utterly convinced that the Iran conflict will drag on, keeping energy prices at punishing levels, and U.S> inflationary pressures enhanced by the costs of rearmament for the depleted munitions stockpiles, plus continued domestic unrest funded before the midterms by the Chinese/Jihadi/Radical leftists to continue a sense of unease.
With an adequate change in the House (likely) and Senate (increasingly unlikely but a Thune led-RINO component) the Congress can reverse Trumps tariffs and other reforms with legislation that might well be veto-proof if packaged with sufficient emotional loading and TDS sloganeering.
If all this analysis on my part implies a sense of a belief in a vast, multi-national effort (including some former allies in Europe) to destabilize the only remaining traditional Western Civilization bedrock nation, an effort linked willingly to our own domestic demokrat/progressive/socialists, you would be correct!
WITH DEFERENCE TO WORDMAN:
<Canada needs the USA market>
But they can’t even export soft drinks anymore because these tariffs will bleed Canada Dry.
Ugh. Please stop this PUNinshment!
WITH DEFERENCE TO WORDMAN:
<Ugh. Please stop this PUNishment!>
Nice try. But you obviously don’t have a humerus bone in your body!
Faced with a 50% tariff , Carney tells Canadians, don’t worry, we are going to punch ourselves with equal force so they know we mean business. 🙂
Can’t remember the last time that I purchased anything made in Canada. We use to vacation several times a year in Canada, but haven’t traveled there at all in the past twenty years. It is a shame about the change in Canadian politics.
BTW, is Time Mag still in business????
🍿time. This is fun.
John Thune & the Carney clown are tied at the hip! The enemy is known, it is the Chamber of Commerce RINO leadership!
So, the next time I need a hockey stick made in Canada (I’m over 65 and never played a game in my life), it’s going to cost me more money?
I think I can live with that.
With Canada intentionally backing itself into a corner of immense vulnerability by refusing to work with its strongest and most globally powerful ally, the United States, the question to ask is:
Cui Bono?
Move auto production to MX and Puerto Rico.
Not PR. Transportation costs would be too high. MX has over the last 30 years become a credible vehicle assembly location: but it didn’t happen overnight.
Canadian economic growth is accelerating? Ha! Gotta admire how effortlessly Carney lies through his teeth…
Our economy is creating jobs at four times the rate of the United States.
All in/by/for government, while the US is moving jobs out of government into the productive economy.
Foreign direct investment … running at twice the rate of our nearest G7 competitor.
Mostly merger-and-acquisition, mostly by …US firms. It’s one way companies can escape.
You can’t really say a Socialist state has arrived at the looting phase, since that describes all phases of Socialism, but here we are.
In reverse, oh Canna-duh.
He misspelled decelerating.
The whole situation is funny – my condolences to lovers of Crown Royal whisky, goose down jackets, and ice hockey equipment.
I think Trump’s trying to act tough against Canada because it’s not working against Iran, but now Canada is calling his bluff – they’ve obviously been watching the Iran situation.
I think Canada is going to win this, too. Just a hunch. 😀
Nope.
Please return here in ninety days..
We know you will..
Just show up as “Jason Sawyer”.
I have a hunch you’ll be having lots more time to play with your smelly geese and hockey equipment in the future.
Another one-day wonder…. 😂
Crown Royal is not real whisky. A pallid attempt at.
Goose down cannot be properly cleaned. That may not be a problem in Canada. It is in the US.
Ice hockey equipment? We don’t need Canadian dentures.
They hold no cards.
Lol.
UK/US cabal has been coveting “efficient slavery” since their ‘efficient’ Frankenstein Fascist Hitler/Mussolini experiment had to be aborted in a world war:
“‘Damned Efficient Slavery’ vs. ‘Inefficient Freedom’
https://archive.org/details/dailycolonist0158uvic_1/mode/2up?view=theater
The Daily Colonist
Victoria Island’s Leading Newspaper Since 1858
January 4th, 1958
SAN FRANCISCO (AP)
Communism is mounting an attack upon the western world with economic weapons, Sir David Eccles, president of the Board of Trade of the United Kingdom, declared yesterday.
He said that while the western nations are pooling their military resources against any war arising from the Soviet Union, “not enough attention has been given to pooling our economic resources, either for the expansion of trade between ourselves, or for meeting the economic offensive that is coming from the Sino-Soviet bloc.”
Sir David, member of the British cabinet, addressed members of the British-American Chamber of Commerce and Trade Centre, the San Francisco World Trade Association and the World Affairs Council of Northern California.
Because the Soviets mobilize and direct all their economic resources from one centre, he said, they have a great advantage.
“Vice-President Nixon called the Russian system slavery. All right, slavery it is. But damned efficient slavery.
“The west, on the other hand, is fragmented into sovereign states, as often as not pursuing rival economic policies.
“We lack imaginative plans for expansion of the free world’s wealth. Indeed, we go our own sweet ways protecting our domestic industries to the detriment of those of our closest allies, trying to block each other’s trade when we should be collaborating for raising standards of life.
“We cherish our freedom. All right, freedom it is, but sadly inefficient freedom.”
YY – “Sadly” they said. Sadly. Let that sit awhile. That’s who these people are.
Reagan proved the USSR’s economy was weak and hollow. One example: the Soviets tried to match our “Star Wars” military research program but their economy could not support it.
Yep. It’s a lie. They just prefer slavery.
(To Sundance)
The caution/concern I read in your words is legit.
Something is afoot.
I saw narcissist Carney’s sour grape’s speech and as he droned on I felt like the U.S. was healing. No more funneling foreign goods through Canada into the U.S. Carney. Time to grow up and pack your own gear. Of course, he’ll run to daddy Xi and cry. Waaaa.
It’s gonna take a long, long time to pay for the Gordie Howe Bridge.
Thank you President Trump.
The Canadian dollar is worth 73 cents US. It’s going to go lower. Maybe 65 cents. How many other Canadian companies will be moving to Nashville?
It’s time for Canada to wake up and get a real leader before they go all the way down the tubes like we did with Biden. It was funny when all these countries throwing tariffs on the United States But we’re not supposed to tariff anybody. It’s time for us to slap tariffs on everybody if they don’t like it go trade with somebody else.
CANADA..for years now hasnNOT been our friend. They aren’t our enemy (yet) but they certainly are not our friend
Candad has sucked on our economy for decades, at least since WW2 and everyday since.
The sunzabitches need US much more than we need them/
FAFO eh!