Somewhere along the path to the inevitable dissolution of the USMCA trilateral trade agreement, reality will set in for Canada.  Until then, denial is the preferred course of action from Prime Minister Mark Carney.  Not since COVID-19 have we witnessed an intellectual disassociation happening over such a large sector of a population.

According to the latest media reports, Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to announce a new Canadian Trade Advisory Council that will strategize the best moves within each sector of the Canadian economy to deal with the United States USMCA renegotiations.  Even at this latest date, the Canadian government is still under the belief they can negotiate themselves into a position where their status within the USMCA (CUSMA) will be retained.

Simultaneous to this announcement, the one best hope the Canadians have relied upon is also evaporating.  However, before discussing that aspect, let’s first look at the advisory council.

CANADA – Prime Minister Mark Carney is expected to unveil a new advisory council focused on Canada-US trade relations as Ottawa attempts to salvage Canadian-US trade amidst Donald Trump’s aggressive tariffs. According to reports, the council will bring together major business leaders, labour representatives and former politicians to advise the federal government ahead of the scheduled review of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).

[…] While the entire list of figures present on the council has yet to be announced, the Government of Canada first announced the advisory committee in April 2026, and released a partial list of members. Members reportedly include Conservative leader Erin O’Toole, former Quebec premier Jean Charest, and other representatives from sectors such as energy, manufacturing and forestry. There are also multiple high-level Canadian executives present on the list released by the Prime Minister’s office on April 21. The committee will be chaired by Dominic LeBlanc, who currently serves as minister responsible for Canada-U.S. trade and intergovernmental affairs. According to the Prime Minister’s Office, the council’s role will be to provide strategic advice and industry expertise as Canada prepares for negotiations under the umbrella of Donald Trump’s renewed tariff threats.

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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi greeted Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin upon arrival in Beijing, China, for a summit with Chairman Xi Jinping just days after Xi and President Trump spent two days in personal conference.

There will be more details from this visit that will surface in the next several hours and few days; however, for those who walk the deep weeds the video of the arrival is very interesting.  Russia controls Russian interests in all things, including diplomatic missions.  Foreign Minister Wang Yi greets President Putin and there are customary celebratory festivities on the tarmac that most are familiar with.

Putin is walking briskly, very deliberately and giving warm waves to the assembled children. But Putin is all business, focused and walking fast.  Minister Yi slows his pace in an effort to slow Putin and emphasize the welcome. Putin keeps forward momentum. It’s subtle, but so typically Russian in approach. Nothing extraneous, nothing off script, nothing casual – straight, predictable and forward.

Notice the Russian control and immediate separation at the moment when they reach the end of the red carpet. Wang Yi and the Chinese welcome delegation as well as all security elements just disappear as in typical Russian fashion the Russian security service takes control from there.

It is a subtle difference between the merged casual formality of a U.S-China visit, and the hard lines of a Putin visit.  I find myself thinking about what a difference it would make in relations between our nations if Americans really understood Russians.  Russians are not cold per se’, they just don’t do casual very well.

There’s no “small talk” in Russian culture. There is talking that has a purpose and benefit – or there is silence. It is a facet of cultural distinction that many Americans just don’t understand.  There are no pretenses and everything is deliberate.

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Barbara Boyd from Promethean Action PAC gives her take on the current situation.

“Barbara Boyd argues the key outcome of Trump’s China visit was the personal trust between Trump and Xi, symbolized by Xi’s “secret garden” tour previously reserved for Putin, and framed as establishing guardrails for U.S.–China strategic and tech competition amid the Iran war and energy geopolitics. She says London and Democrats are “screaming” because Trump is reshaping global economic relationships while Treasury Secretary Bessent lifts U.S. sanctions on Russian exports. The episode targets Mark Carney and Keir Starmer as City of London figures who tried to capture China finance, advance BRICS as a dollar alternative, promote a synthetic reserve currency via CBDCs, and steer $130T through green finance—efforts Boyd says have failed as Trump reverses “Green New Deal” policies. She highlights DOJ election-rigging probes, renewed scrutiny of “Russiagate,” anti-fraud prosecutions, voter backlash, and insurgent politics in Los Angeles and London.”

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I’m not going to spend too much time on this as I suspect most readers are well aware of my predictions on the matter.  Suffice to say Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has extended the sanctions waiver on Russian oil and gas for another 30-days. {citation}

[SOURCE]

The OFAC waiver targets Russian oil/gas that was loaded onto floating storage platforms as of April 17, 2026.  The destination of the oil/gas will primarily be China, India and Southeast Asia; westbound Arctic supply route. The general license means all of the ASEAN countries can purchase in dollars and provides Russia with an exchange for the same currency valuation.  Once again, Zelenskyy -and Europe- will not be happy.

There is a certain irony in Europe previously banning the import of Russian oil/gas (EU sanctions) and now, when they desperately need it, the supply is flowing in the opposite direction.  Both Russia’s Arctic I and Arctic II platforms are operating to produce the supply; however, as many readers here will note they coincidentally :::nudge, nudge – wink, wink::: started pumping supply to “on the water” storage for six months prior to the beginning of the Iran conflict.   This is the third U.S. waiver of sanctions.

Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to arrive in Beijing on Wednesday. {GO DEEP}

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U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer appears on CBS Face the Nation to discuss current U.S-China trade relations on the heels of the recent Beijing summit.  Brennan in her customary passive-aggressive mode as a professional narrative engineer.  Video and Transcript Below:

[Transcript] – MARGARET BRENNAN: We begin this morning with a top member of the president’s economic team, United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. Good morning to you, Ambassador.

JAMIESON GREER: Good morning. Good to be here.

MARGARET BRENNAN: It isn’t just a matter of sentiment. Gas is at an average of $4.51 a gallon. Americans have spent $45 billion more on fuel since the war began versus a year ago. The stock market is up, but lower-income Americans are pulling back on their spending. The New York Fed reports households earning less than $125,000 a year are fueling up their cars less often. How do you provide relief to the average American?

JAMIESON GREER: Well, we know that no one wants to see higher gas prices. At the same time, the president is balancing foreign policy considerations. We know that, in addition to wanting to have low gas prices, we don’t want our children or grandchildren to inherit a world where Iran has a nuclear weapon, so the president is focused on affordability in as many ways that he can- that he can. He’s bringing jobs back to America. We’re focused on getting wages up to offset any kind of increase in prices, and we’re seeing prices go down for staples like dairy, cheese, flour, etc. So we’re very focused on this. The president’s focused on it, and we look forward to seeing those prices come down soon as the operations wrap up in the Gulf.

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The folks at Promethean Action PAC outline their perspective on what President Trump’s trip to Beijing means against the backdrop of a substantial geopolitical reset that seems to diminish the role of Europe.

“Susan Kokinda analyzes President Trump’s May 14 post responding to Xi Jinping’s remarks about the “Thucydides Trap,” arguing media coverage framed the U.S. as declining while Trump asserted America’s renewed strength. She says the summit’s real significance was Trump bringing an unprecedented delegation of top U.S. CEOs into the bilateral meeting and including the Defense Secretary, breaking a post-1972 pattern.

Kokinda highlights Trump raising denuclearization directly with Xi and rejecting war-driven “geopolitical trigger points,” including on Taiwan, emphasizing avoiding a distant war. She contends the Thucydides Trap concept popularized by Graham Allison is British-influenced “fake history” that obscures imperial manipulation, and claims Trump is dismantling that paradigm by reviving the American System—tariffs, manufacturing, and energy independence.”

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U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer gives a broad overview of the current status of U.S. trade relations with China on the heels of the Beijing Summit.  Greer notes that China has agreed to fulfill all previous purchase agreements and the future of trade between the U.S. and China looks very stable.

Additionally, China has made major purchases for 200 Boeing aircraft and up to 500 jet engines that are worth multi-billions in benefit within the manufacturing sector for the United States.  Following the conflict points between the U.S. and Europe, specifically as it relates to outcomes from the military engagement in Iran and the weakening of selfishly motivated NATO alliance members, China does appear to be more open in their trade relations with the USA.  Perhaps this is driven by the new paradigm of energy dependency that Beijing is not familiar with.

The most interesting aspect to the Beijing trip was not and is not the trade success stories that surfaced during the trip {USTR Greer}. While President Trump brought titans of industry, tech and finance with him to Beijing, the emphasis was on relationships.

Perhaps President Trump was teaching those influential peers something akin to needing a perspective change.  Perhaps the nature of trade relations is so structurally under change, all those business interests within it need to look at things differently.

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White House official photographer Daniel Torok just announced that all of the Beijing trip photographs have been uploaded to the White House Flickr Account.  I was hoping Torok captured this moment, and indeed he did.

[View All Here]

China blacklisted him, sanctioned him, blocked him, and then Chairman Xi ended up having to shake his hand.  Because Donald J Trump.

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President Trump gives quick comments to the assembled Press Pool at the White House upon return from China.  WATCH:

The most interesting aspect to the Beijing trip was not and is not the trade success stories that surfaced during the trip {USTR Greer}.  While President Trump brought titans of industry, tech and finance with him to Beijing, the emphasis is on relationships.

Stay elevated. Note the emphasis by Secretary Rubio was on geopolitical relations against the background of current events.  Note how much narrative energy is spent on the ‘relationship’ aspect to President Trump and Chairman Xi, from both leaders and also on direct questions to all pertinent current events.

When questioned about issues, Trump, Rubio and Xi spoke of relations – not details of policy or current events.  The venues within China were specific to something more akin to understanding motives behind policy, personal motives, historic motives from a personal perspective.  It wasn’t a trip of transactions; the vibe, the frequency of it all, was seemingly dominated by something more important to the moment than dollars and yuan.

It seemed critical for both leaders to convey their mutual alignment, ensuring and emphasizing the importance of no conflict between their nations, even if policy differences are present.  Both Rubio and Trump emphasized this overall tone.

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The noticing of things continues….

[SOURCE]

RUSSIA – “Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to arrive in Beijing for a one-day visit on May 20, just days after the conclusion of President Xi Jinping’s landmark summit with U.S. President Donald Trump.

Sources told the South China Morning Post the visit was part of Moscow’s routine dealings with Beijing, with little expectation that there would be an elaborate parade or welcome.

It will be the first time that China has hosted the leaders of the two powers in the same month outside a multilateral setting, a reflection of Beijing’s efforts to manage ties with both and position itself as a pivotal power amid an increasingly fractured world order. (read more)

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