At the conclusion of a G7 summit in Quebec, Canada, Secretary of State Marco Rubio talks about the geopolitical realities of coming to a place where a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia is possible.
This is a very solid outline from Marco Rubio who appears to have found his ideal career position as U.S. Secretary of State. Rubio simply shines in this role. This is a 20-minute press conference where Rubio weaves through the narrative engineering, and puts the bigger picture of national security, economic security, and pragmatic U.S. foreign policy into a very well-presented package.
As the Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick interview yesterday was a ‘must watch’ segment, so too is this press conference by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. WATCH:
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick appears on Bloomberg to discuss the tariff approach of President Trump toward national security. Economic security is national security.
Lutnick correctly points out the crazy mindset of the Canadians and Europeans not understanding and respecting the big picture objective of President Trump. Ex. President Trump says we need steel and aluminum made in the USA, Canada responds with a tax on soccer balls. As Lutnick says, “really, I mean, REALLY?”
This interview is must watch television that cuts directly through the pretending and silliness. WATCH:
Pledging never to relent and to destroy President Trump, Ontario Premier Doug Ford placed a 25% tariff on all electricity delivered to the United States. After announcing the tariff Ford said, “It needs to end. Until these tariffs are off the table, until the threat of tariffs is gone for good, Ontario will not relent,” Ford said.
President Trump has found out about the Ontario tariff and has responded, big time:
“Based on Ontario, Canada, placing a 25% Tariff on “Electricity” coming into the United States, I have instructed my Secretary of Commerce to add an ADDITIONAL 25% Tariff, to 50%, on all STEEL and ALUMINUM COMING INTO THE UNITED STATES FROM CANADA, ONE OF THE HIGHEST TARIFFING NATIONS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD. This will go into effect TOMORROW MORNING, March 12th.
Also, Canada must immediately drop their Anti-American Farmer Tariff of 250% to 390% on various U.S. dairy products, which has long been considered outrageous.
I will shortly be declaring a National Emergency on Electricity within the threatened area. This will allow the U.S to quickly do what has to be done to alleviate this abusive threat from Canada. If other egregious, long time Tariffs are not likewise dropped by Canada, I will substantially increase, on April 2nd, the Tariffs on Cars coming into the U.S. which will, essentially, permanently shut down the automobile manufacturing business in Canada. Those cars can easily be made in the USA!
Canadian leftists have selected Mark Carney as their replacement for Justin Trudeau, Carney will be sworn in as Prime Minister shortly and complete the remaining segment of Trudeau’s term before new Canadian elections.
The only issue on the mind of voters in Canada is which candidate will fight U.S. President Donald Trump the hardest. Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has vowed to fight Trump harder than Mark Carney, but the leftists in Canada are now back on the ascendency and will dispatch the pontificating Poilievere shortly.
During his acceptance speech at the Liberal Party convention, a beaming Mark Carney promised to defeat President Trump and the Americans in the upcoming trade war. Carney noted, a sense of national pride has swept across Canada as the people unite in their hatred for everything Trump and everything American associated with him. WATCH:
In addition to tariffs against Canadian goods and services, U.S. President Trump has massive economic arrows in his quiver that can be deployed against the Canadian economy. Measures including larger tariffs (tariff reciprocity), financial sanctions, restrictions on Canadian investment in the USA, revocation of visa-free border crossing, forced divestiture of American asset holdings for the Canadian people (banking reciprocity), all the way to a full-throated embargo of all goods and travel from Canada are potential.
If that sequence of events ever happened, the Canadian government led by Prime Minister Mark Carney has vowed to respond in kind to Trump with identical action blocking any/all USA products, services and American citizens from entry into Canada. This approach would enable us to finally determine which nationalistic outlook will survive, Canada or the USA.
(Via Politico) – […] One of Carney’s first decisions will be whether or not to call a snap election in the middle of a trade war. He has identified Trump’s rolling tariff threats as an “economic and sovereign crisis.”
“The Americans want our resources, our water, our land, our country,” Carney said. “Think about it. If they succeed, they will destroy our way of life.”
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, another deliberate and happy warrior, appears on Face the Nation to deconstruct the narratives presented by NBC and Kirsten Welker.
Starting with the Mexico and Canada tariff issues, Welker incorrectly frames the current issue around economics. Secretary Lutnick presents the issue of the current Mex/Can confrontation for what President Trump has prioritized, the issue of illegal fentanyl smuggling across the border.
100,000+ Americans are killed each year with the intentional and purposeful transportation of Chinese drugs through the U.S. southern border of Mexico and the U.S northern border with Canada. Both nations could, if they wanted, crack down on the illegal and dangerous drug trade; neither has prioritized the problem. Again, 100,000+ Americans are killed each year. Think about it. WATCH:
“This is the way you run the country,” Lutnick said on NBC News’s “Meet the Press” with Kristen Welker. “You shut the border. You get our neighbors to do their job. It’s not only us who has to do their job. Why are our neighbors, who live and breathe off our economy, not taking care of America?”
“You have to remember this is a drug-related issue,” Lutnick said. “You’ve got fentanyl pouring into this country, killing 75,000 Americans, autopsied. And the president, you know, thinks it’s many, many more, multiples more.”
President Trump notes a conversation with Justin Trudeau about tariffs against Canada. No agreement on tariff relief for Canada is coming because Canada has yet to address the central issue, fentanyl still flowing from the Snow Mexicans into the USA.
However, within the message delivered by President Trump, he also notes that anti-American sentiment in Canada is being used by Justin Trudeau in order to remain in power.
Canada’s top-four Moonbats held a debate to decide which of the leaders of the Snow Mexicans will take control of the party now that Justin Trudeau is leaving. Chryistia “take your bank account” Freeland is the top contender.
For the Snow Mexicans, the #1 priority is fighting U.S President Donald Trump. No other issue had anywhere near the level of importance or time during the debate. Every facet of the leadership debate centers around how to confront, attack, and “outwit” President Trump. [Full Debate Here]
When you listen to four professional Canadian leftists explain how they will control the Canadian government and what their plans are for the future, you realize just how lost the nation of Canada has become. To wit, hearing Chrystia Freeland explain how she will bring together a nuclear armed international alliance to fight President Trump, is really something special. Here’s a few soundbites:
Has Chrystia Freeland lost her f’ing mind?!?
“The US is turning predator, and so what Canada needs to do is work closely with our democratic allies, our military allies.
I would start with our Nordic partners, specifically Denmark who is also being threatened, and our NATO… pic.twitter.com/D02tGiiYLX
For the past two weeks, the Snow Mexicans have been booing the USA national anthem when played in Canada during sporting events. While we hold no animosity toward Canadians, last night the Team USA hockey team beat them 3-1 on the Snow Mexicans home turf.
After Canada again booed the USA national anthem again last night, the game began with three fights in the first nine seconds: Matthew Tkachuk and Brandon Hagel, then Brady Tkachuk and Sam Bennett and finally J.T. Miller and Colton Parayko.
USA Today – […] The negative reactions to “The Star-Spangled Banner” came even after the Bell Centre public address announcer asked fans to show respect for the anthems.
Canadian sports fans have been booing the U.S. national anthem since U.S. President Donald Trump made threats regarding import tariffs earlier in February. The Trump administration paused the threat for 30 days for Canada, as well as Mexico, to be hit with 25% tariffs, but the concern over the economic impact remains. (link)
With the win last night, team USA clinched a spot in the 4 Nations Face-Off championship game on Thursday in Boston. Canada could fill the other spot if it beats Finland in regulation on Monday or with an overtime win if Sweden doesn’t beat the U.S. in regulation.
Both Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum have agreed to terms established by President Trump to combat drug trafficking and secure their perspective borders.
Mexico agrees to put 10,000 troops on the USA border to immediately begin security efforts. Canada agrees to bolster their 10,000-border patrol and security officers, establish a joint task force to combat organized crime, create a new intelligence directive on organized crime and fentanyl, and appoint a Fentanyl Czar.
In December of 2016 when we discussed the possibility of President Trump’s then new and unique tariff approach, we predicted negligible impact – if any at all. It was a theory at the time, but predicated on the looming possibility that impacted nations would inevitably devalue their currency. It was the currency devaluation, in combination with directed subsidies, that would offset any tariff impact to U.S. consumers.
By the time we got to December 2019, we were no longer discussing theory. Deflation due to currency devaluation, subsidy and a rising dollar actually became reality. The lookback data (2017 through 2019) proved the tariffs did not raise prices. In fact, the opposite happened, we were importing broad-based deflation.
Now it’s 2025 and again China is hit with tariffs, along with Canada and Mexico. With history as a reference, watch the Canadian Dollar and the Mexican Peso. Initial impact shows the same thing repeating again. The U.S. dollar is rising in value, and the Canadian dollar is dropping quickly.
If this trend holds, the 25% tariffs against Canada (and Mexico) will have minimal impact, if any at all. The lowered value Canadian dollar and Mexican peso will work as an offset and imports will be paid with higher value dollars. Depending on the scale of what happens in the next few weeks, there is a strong possibility Canada might have just walked into a trap set by Trump.
