There are many people in Canada demanding to see the rough draft proposals of the U.S-Canada trade agreement so they can judge for themselves the issues that Carney claimed were irreconcilable.  For those people this interview today by Canadian Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc will only embolden those requests.

Trade Emissary LeBlanc outlined the major fracture points that drove Prime Minister Mark to reject the deal. I’ll put the full interview below which everyone should watch because what LeBlanc outlined is rather funny.  Carney was obviously looking for a reason to walk away, because the fracture points were ridiculously small.

Essentially, it boils down to four issues. !1) Removal of tariffs on Canadian assembled Semi-Trucks. (2) U.S. streaming services writing code for “search engines” in the French language. (3) Canada demanding 5% of gross revenues from U.S. tech platforms, and the last one is silly because it already exists: (4) the U.S. having a right to reject a trade deal made by Canada with a non-market economy, ie. CHINA.

Taking the issues one by one we start with ♦U.S. tariffs on Canadian Semi Trucks.  Canada wanted tariffs on Big Rigs removed. The U.S. said no.

The reason is simple.  Big Rigs assembled/built in Canada are falling apart in the USA. Why? Because they are full of cheap Chinese component goods and parts that wear out quickly.  The U.S. wants two things on this issue. Either: (1) Make them in the USA, or (2) stop using cheap Chinese component parts.  The parts that Canada are using are not even available in the USA because we tariff and reject them, so why should we accept them when Canada installs them?  Either quit using Chinese parts (hence, the trade alignment against Chinese imports), or accept a tariff equal to the rate we would apply if the product was coming directly from China.

♦The Stupid French Language thing.  The French language stuff was an ancillary aspect where the Canadian Cultural Police were demanding that all U.S. streaming platforms (YouTube, Netflix etc.) must have search engines using the French language so Canadian users can search for stuff to watch using the French language. A ridiculous issue that was not part of the trade discussion, but Mark Carney saw political value in blowing up the issue.

This is really stupid, because when you buy your hardware (TV, Phone, Computer etc.) it asks you what language or country during set up. If you live in France, you put France. The operating system does the rest. We don’t code search engines for French in FRANCE because the OS does it! But Canada was requiring U.S. tech companies (streaming services) to install search features in French [I guess so they can set up the OS in English but get some ancillary feature.] It was a stupid “side paper” in the Intellectual Property sector of the trade discussion.

♦Intellectual Property. Canada was demanding 5% of U.S. tech platform gross revenue (not profit, gross), they call it a tax.  Canada then uses the “tax revenue” to subsidize Canadian media and information platforms that promote the approved government message.  In essence, Canada demands that information providers pay them 5% of their revenue so that Canada can subsidize information providers they approve of.  This is what the Canadian government calls “cultural protection.”  In reality it is state-run media using a financial system that would make Vladimir Putin blush.

♦U.S. Right to Limit Canadian Trade Deals.  This point is exponentially ridiculous for Canada to be upset about because the current USMCA/CUSMA already has that clause.  The U.S (or Mexico) can exit the USMCA if Canada enters into a trade agreement with a “non-market” economy, ie China. [USMCA Sec 32:10]

Canada was already in violation of the USMCA/CUSMA when they entered into a trade agreement with China and agreed to import Chinese EVs.  This action triggered the U.S. to become more focused on the stuff Canada was going to import; hence, the renewed emphasis on the clause.

That’s it.

Prime Minister Mark Carney blew up the trade discussion based on his demand that: Canada should be allowed to make any deal they want with China; that Chinese component parts be allowed in Canadian assembled Semi Trucks; that streaming services install a French language search engine; and that tech platforms pay him to censor information and subsidize official narratives.

In other words, Mark Carney was looking for an excuse/justification not to make a trade deal, and make a political statement that would appeal to the uber leftist French Québécois and his partners in Beijing.

Clear enough?

Here’s Dominic LeBlanc:

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