US Tariffs

[loaders]

This fiasco isn’t the result of a few hundred kilos of any illicit drug flowing across the US/Canada border. Nor is it at all related to a handful of illegal immigrants slipping across the border. This is, and always has been a power play on the part of Donald Trump to flex his new found political and economic muscle. Since the 1930s, when both countries were climbing out of a monstrous depression, business leaders, labour leaders and many political leaders realized that developing a mechanism that allowed the free flow of goods and services across our mutual border would benefit both economies. Since that time, both countries have enjoyed various inclusive trade deals that have been the envy of the world and the template for many other global deals. This is not the fault of Canada in any way, shape or form. Prepare yourselves for more, not less interference from the lunatic in the White House. The voices of reason and moderation in the US government have gone silent and have bent the knee to the “dear leader”.

 

[WALTERK]

Of course it is not just about the borders or fentanyl or trade imbalances.. or NATO spending. Tariffs are a multilateral attack on Canada to wakeup Canadians to stop being asleep at the wheel. It's a message! It is about national security. Americans in general believe Canada has been hijacked and is a runaway train heading for a self destruction under Trudeau. This has to change for the security of both countries, but the US is not going to take any chances. There is just no other option. Either Canada starts broadcasting on the frequency that Washington can understand or it becomes a strategic problem. It is like your brother is going rogue and start betting against you. There is absolutely nothing that Trump wants from Canada that is bad for Canada in the long run. Strengthening and diversifying economy, utilizing natural resources to produce cheap energy, securing borders, implementing sound immigration policies, investing in military, and reducing government waste are the objectives that the USA is aiming for too.

 

[Freight Broker]

If so, Please tell Trump that Trudeau is all but gone along with the current Liberal government. No need for punishing tariffs to change the channel.

 

[WALTERK]

But his is not, and his goons are still barking at him and Americans. Trump WILL DO whatever is needed to Make America Great Again, and a broken Canada was never a part of the plan. Remember, last time he lifted tariffs on Canadian aluminum and metals very quickly. But, I beg you do not underestimate the will of the millions of Americans that are 100% behind Trump.

 

[loaders]

This has absolutely nothing whatsoever to due with Trudeau or the last 9 years of Liberal governance. Previous US administrations had no problem working in concert with the whatever government was in power in Ottawa. Blame Trudeau for anything you want, but Trumps imposition of crippling tariffs is not one of them. This is simply the act of a reckless and power drunk would be dictator.

 

[Freight Broker]

We’re not a broken country..who told you that?

Apart from CUSMA, we already have free trade agreements in place with the EU, Australia, Japan, Chile, Peru, Singapore..yet for some reason that rarely gets any attention. We need to build up those relationships to ensure that we never again become overly dependant on another country.

We also need to get rid of our own internal trade barriers..it’s crazy that those still exist.

I’m old enough to remember Canada before we had free trade with anyone. WE WERE ABSOLUTELY FINE! We were a smaller country back then..we made more of our own stuff..we built trucks, trailers, locomotives, airplanes..and sold all of that and more around the world.

 

[WALTERK]

This has absolutely nothing whatsoever to due with Trudeau or the last 9 years of Liberal governance. Previous US administrations had no problem working in concert with the whatever government was in power in Ottawa. Blame Trudeau for anything you want, but Trumps imposition of crippling tariffs is not one of them. This is simply the act of a reckless and power drunk would be dictator.

Tell this to over 334 millions of Americans and see how far it's going to get you........

 

[loaders]

I have no idea why you quoted the total population of the US, as opposed to the 77million US citizens who actually voted for and supposedly agree with his platform. Keep in mind, a mere 2 million less votes were cast for Kamala Harris. To assume that each living American, adults and children, support the nonsense coming out of the White House is ridiculous. Every American business group, industry association and labour union opposes these tariffs and recognize the damage they will cause to American workers and businesses. These are not the acts of a shrewd businessman or a seasoned politician. They are the actions of a petulant child and a blow hard bully.

 

[Freight Broker]

Most Americans wouldn’t know who Trudeau is..that he is our Prime Minister, or that Canada even has a Prime Minister, and that’s not saying anything bad about Americans. We simply aren’t that big on your radar. I don’t know much about Denmark or Sweden either, for the same reason. The vast majority of Americans, thus, view us positively or at worst indifferently..most do not see us as the root of their problems. And why would they? We’ve been a reliable trade partner..when the chips were down during 911 we opened up our airspace so that you could close and secure yours. And notice who is always at your side and ready to help after a hurricane or wild fire.. that's right, CANADA. As Canadians we recognize that these tariffs are not the will of the American people, rather they are the unilateral actions of an unkind, ill informed, and selfish man.

 

[senditover]

100% with you on this, nothing he is saying is based on fact, I looked up the fent numbers it was like 19kg seized at the border from Canada last year compared to 9600kg from Mexico.

I've seen people bring up this stat and it's very misleading.. It doesn't include the Canadian truck drivers that were busted within the United States. A large number of drugs seized from Canadian drivers were within the US and not at the border.

 

[loaders]

I've seen people bring up this stat and it's very misleading.. It doesn't include the Canadian truck drivers that were busted within the United States. A large number of drugs seized from Canadian drivers were within the US and not at the border.

About the same amount of illicit drugs on commercial vehicles seized entering Canada from the US! These tariffs were not implemented to force Canada into strengthening its borders against drugs or illegal immigration into the US. That is the misinformation he is spoon feeding to his supporters and to circumvent and break the negotiated terms of the NAFTA agreement. His real purpose is to forcefully, through never before seen economic pressure, bring the Canadian economy to its knees so that then he can renegotiate every trade deal between our two countries, some of which have been in effect for decades. Guess which side wins?

 

[WALTERK]

For whatever it is worth, I keep my fingers crossed that Canada comes out of this smarter economically, stronger than ever, and led by leaders that put Canada First.

 

[Fr8Guru]

Maybe not.. Mark Carney changes the dynamic. He's not a career politician, and he knows something about finance and economics. Not saying he's a shoe in, but he has made the Libs a viable option once again. If the NDP can support the Liberals until October with Mark Carney as the PM.. that might not be too bad.

Carney over the past few days has really grown on me.

Pierre... is kinda shooting himself in the foot right now with his "fight the guy with the giant stick" mentality. Especially fighting the guy with giant stick who acts like a 5 year old...

Carney seems calculated, I don't know if he has enough time to really build up a base but I've liked what I've heard so far.

 

[Rob]

I've seen people bring up this stat and it's very misleading.. It doesn't include the Canadian truck drivers that were busted within the United States. A large number of drugs seized from Canadian drivers were within the US and not at the border.

Those drugs where Canada bound not US bound. Far more than the number provided has been caught at Canada Customs coming INTO Canada from US and Mexico and always the same players involved based on the names of the accused I read after the busts.

 

[jonny-chicken]

A good variety of opinions here that's for sure...

I am one to believe that this trade war against Canada has not been started because of Fentanyl, illegal immigration, Trudeau, trade imbalance or anything like that...

This is all about weakening our country financially in order to encourage companies to shut down Canadian operations and move manufacturing and other jobs to the USA... It's about putting us on the defensive so the US can beat us up on renegotiating trade deals... And if the damage is bad enough, it's about getting Canada to become the 51st state, however ridiculous that idea may sound to us...

On one hand, this is about one moron who doesn't understand a lot of things he pretends to be an expert on, who thinks he can push and shove his way to prosperity and being some sort of great orange messiah to his followers...

But America and Americans are not innocent in this... They elected this jackass and many support his policies, however crazy they may be. They need to understand what kind of chaos they have unleashed here...

I hope that this is reversible and things can go back to some kind of normal, but I don't really think that will happen based on one guys giant ego and the way he threatens and coerces those around him to stay in line...

The other option is to go back to the way things used to be as mentioned by another poster where we used to manufacture many products for our own consumption... If we also open up trading relationships with other countries around the world for our exports, perhaps we can turn this around.

 

[jonny-chicken]

Now that we know Trudeau is on his way out, can we get all those F-Trudeau flags and stickers changed over to F-Trump?

 

[Freight Broker]

Markets midmorning today are down significantly, but alot less than I thought they'd be. Maybe there's a glimmer of hope.

 

[loaders]

Reports are that the Mexican president and Trump have agreed to delay the start of tariffs for one month. Trump has finally spoken to Trudeau this morning and they have a second call scheduled for this afternoon. Perhaps the same arrangement will be hammered out. The question remains however….why subject both of our economies to such chaos?

 

[Freight Broker]

He got major concessions from Mexico, and it is only a 28 day reprieve.

Today it’s about the bank, and US banks having access to the Canadian consumer markets..

 

[LrgCar]

it’s about the bank, and US banks having access to the Canadian consumer markets..

What could go wrong....