The trade war is back on

[CouchPotato]

‘No room left’ for a deal: Trump says Canada, Mexico tariffs take effect Tuesday

Quote

President Donald Trump reaffirmed plans to impose new 25 percent tariffs on all Mexican and Canadian goods beginning Tuesday, likely triggering a trade war with the United States’ biggest trading partners.

There is “no room left for Mexico or for Canada” to make a deal to avoid the tariffs, Trump told reporters at the White House. “They’re all set. They go into effect tomorrow.”

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/03/lutnick-trump-canada-mexico-tariffs-00207238

Well here we go...

Edited March 3 by CouchPotato
Forgot to post the link.

[Aristides]

It's pretty obvious this country is going to have to reinvent itself to remain sovereign. I could be tough slog but reducing economic dependence on the US can't be a bad thing.

Tariffs may take some manufacturing south but reciprocal tariffs will encourage US companies to have manufacturing capability in Canada to serve our markets, as they did before NAFTA. A market of over 40 million is not insignificant.

Edited March 4 by Aristides

[Iceni warrior]

 

[Aristides]

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca

 

Well done Donald. 

[Michael Hardner]

11 hours ago, Aristides said:

It's pretty obvious this country is going to have to reinvent itself to remain sovereign. I could be tough slog but reducing economic dependence on the US can't be a bad thing.

Tariffs may take some manufacturing south but reciprocal tariffs will encourage US companies to have manufacturing capability in Canada to serve our markets, as they did before NAFTA. A market of over 40 million is not insignificant.

I think that the Canadian populists in the mold of Doug Ford may eventually stumble upon a protectionist public-private angle to create nationalist enterprises run by the new populist elite.  When-if that happens, it'll be the China model in Canada   maybe even with China helping.

Just gazing at the clouds in my coffee... maybe boycott Dylan and load up on some Joni...

Edited March 4 by Michael Hardner

[Barquentine]

2 hours ago, Michael Hardner said:

maybe boycott Dylan

Ok - you had me up 'til that point.

[Aristides]

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca

Well done Donald

Hope the MAGA m0rons are enjoying watching their 401K's, RRSP's, RIF's and other savings and pension plans shrink before their eyes while seeing inflation rise at the same time the economy goes into recession.

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/investing/opinion/2025/03/04/why-are-titans-of-industry-holding-their-tongues-amid-punishing-trump-tariffs/

Edited March 4 by Aristides

[Aristides]

Ford has announced a 25% export tax on electricity exports to the US, Quebec needs to do the same.

Edited March 4 by Aristides

[Barquentine]

4 hours ago, Aristides said:

Ford has announced a 25% export tax on electricity exports to the US, Quebec needs to do the same.

Believe that's a federal jurisdiction. Not sure they'll want to do that. (At this point)

[Aristides]

Trump delays auto tariffs. Looks like the manufacturers gave him a dose of reality. Now he has 30 days to figure out how to declare a victory. Canada says we aren't removing any of its tariffs until Trump removes all of his tariffs. We aren't playing Trump's game anymore. Stay tuned.

Even without the auto tariffs, the metal tariffs will jack up the price of vehicles.

Edited March 6 by Aristides

[CouchPotato]

1 hour ago, Aristides said:

We aren't playing Trump's game anymore.

I am not even sure Trump knows what his game is. He has gone back and forth so much. I wonder if he is consulting a Magic 8 Ball with regard to whether or not to implement tariffs.

[Aristides]

[Aristides]

On 3/4/2025 at 12:43 PM, Barquentine said:

Believe that's a federal jurisdiction. Not sure they'll want to do that. (At this point)

No it isn't. Provinces have the power to tax in their own jurisdictions, they don't have the power to tariff imports.

[CdnFox]

On 3/4/2025 at 12:43 PM, Barquentine said:

Believe that's a federal jurisdiction. Not sure they'll want to do that. (At this point)

The provinces can.  The provinces sell the energy directly to the states themselves so there's no need for feds to be involved

[Barquentine]

11 hours ago, CdnFox said:

The provinces can.  The provinces sell the energy directly to the states themselves so there's no need for feds to be involved

I stand corrected. Googling the question gives both yes and no.

[CdnFox]

4 hours ago, Barquentine said:

I stand corrected. Googling the question gives both yes and no.

Sure. The provinces can do it themselves, or the federal government can of course put any exports tax or tariff on that they want as they control the border. So either side can do it

[Aristides]

I like this guy

 

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/business/economics/2025/03/06/burn-down-their-house-bay-street-veteran-weighs-in-on-tariff-response/

Quote

We do have actually ample fiscal room at the federal level to cushion the blow to the provinces that would take this action, but I come from the mentality that when the bully in the schoolyard gives you a black eye, you don’t punch back, you go burn down his house.

 

Edited March 6 by Aristides

[CdnFox]

48 minutes ago, Aristides said:

I like this guy

 

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/business/economics/2025/03/06/burn-down-their-house-bay-street-veteran-weighs-in-on-tariff-response/

 

I would tend to agree with that. We should escalate and make the tariffs as painful as humanly possible for trump and turn the American people against him. That is how you deal with a bully

[August1991]

Gimme a break.

Trump is playing Carney and the Anglo-NDP.

[cannuck]

The Donald thinks he is another Herbert Hoover.  We (i.e. the world) has been there in 1930s when Smoot Hawley Tariffs brought on retaliatory tariffs around the world, deepening the Great Depression.  Welcome to the dirty thirties - 5 years early.

[SpankyMcFarland]

This is the mentality we are up against, a press secretary who apparently believes that tariffs are a tax cut for Americans:

 

[Aristides]

39 minutes ago, SpankyMcFarland said:

This is the mentality we are up against, a press secretary who apparently believes that tariffs are a tax cut for Americans:

 

She's either an !diot or a bald faced liar, or both. You never know which with this mob.

Trump believes the tariffs will give him revenues for a tax cut but if they stop imports there will be no tariffs to collect.

Edited March 13 by Aristides

[Zeitgeist]

5 hours ago, Aristides said:

She's either an !diot or a bald faced liar, or both. You never know which with this mob.

Trump believes the tariffs will give him revenues for a tax cut but if they stop imports there will be no tariffs to collect.

I think some imports will go through and the U.S. will collect some revenue, but it won't be enough for major tax cuts.  More importantly, business costs will rise and many products will rise in price.  If the tariffs harm the economies of Canada and other allies, these populations won't soon forget and the boycott of U.S. goods will become severe.  It won't even matter at that point how low the tariffs go or if they're removed.  That could be the worst aspect of tariffs for America long term.  Canada will adapt to any scenario.  Our domestic market and alternative markets have much potential, especially if we stop buying/importing U.S. goods, because we'll replace many of them with our own goods.  It's all stupid of course, because so many of our products and companies are publicly traded and part-U.S. part-Canadian owned, but consumers will become increasingly fixated on not buying American content.  Yes the U.S. is a bigger fish, but what happens when the rest of the world begin to act like a school of piranhas?  This isn't the 1800's.  The supply chains are integrated due to the rapid delivery made possible by modern transportation and communication technology.  Global trade has added tremendous variety and opportunity to everyone, despite imbalances and lower income labour markets, which see incomes rise over time.  Just look at Japan.

The bigger worry in all of this is that we create inefficiency and add costs by no longer taking advantage of  the availability of resources when producing items.  We end up trying to do things in-house at a much higher cost or not being able to build certain things because we can't access the resources locally.

Only a stupid government would let one person make such important decisions.  Economists and companies have made the calculus over decades about how to produce, distribute, and sell their products with the greatest efficiency and profit margins.  Tariffs scew that calculus completely by creating barriers strictly along national lines.  The truth is that economies are ecosystems that funtion regionally.  The Great Lakes industrial cities are a perfect example of this.  Cascadia on the West Coast is another example.  The Maritimes-New England economy is another example. 

If Trump really wants Canada to be integrated with the U.S. with the least political fallout for his party or the American way of life, the answer is economic union and leaving each country with its federal and regional governments intact.  Drop all tariffs and allow the free flow of people, goods, and services between the two countries.  You retain your citizenship (and can only vote in your home country) unless you apply for and get the other country's citizenship.  The central banks and currencies in each country can remain.  If a third currency is desirable that can be used in either country, its value could be fixed at the mid-point between the values of both national currencies, but I think we could just accept each other's national currencies at their exchange values.

All national programs with regard to healthcare, etc., can be retained for the respective citizens of each country.  It may be true that Canadians pay less for their military, and they should contribute more, but it's also true that the U.S. gets our oil and natural gas at a discount.  They refine and resell it.  We definitely need to refine our own oil and sell it domestically.  We should be paying less at the pumps than the Americans.  I hope we see a very significant price drop in gas when the carbon tax is eliminated.   

Edited March 14 by Zeitgeist

[eyeball]

6 hours ago, SpankyMcFarland said:

This is the mentality we are up against, a press secretary who apparently believes that tariffs are a tax cut for Americans:

Her scolding the reporter for insulting her knowledge of economics certainly clinched it.

I bet you $10 she's also an expert in viral immunology and vaccinology.

[SpankyMcFarland]

Let us be clear. Trump means to destroy this country. He and his supporters are now our enemy.