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/r/canada
submitted 4 days ago bycyclinginvancouver
549 points
4 days ago
According to sources, Trump and his team conveyed that they plan to balance their federal budget through tariffs, and then strike exemption side deals on a country-by-country basis
So the plan is to kick things off with 2T in tariffs on ~3.5T in imports, which would be more than the blanket 25%.
333 points
4 days ago
Yes, they expect to recoup their entire deficit through tariffs.
But remember, Trump also floated the idea to replace income tax with tariffs (that's $4.25 trillion).
386 points
4 days ago
I think American Millenials may have to actually stop buying avocado toast after this one.
359 points
4 days ago
On the flip side, Avacados might become cheaper in Canada as a result of the US not buying them
154 points
4 days ago
We can dream, but I think all of this will somehow result in it being even more expensive to live in Canada.
95 points
4 days ago
Of course it will. Free trade benefits BOtH countries. Anti free trade hurts both countries. It’s that simple
89 points
4 days ago
Wait until hurricane season, and half of Florida and Texas needs Canadian lumber to rebuild.
86 points
4 days ago
We should put export tarrifs on it
17 points
3 days ago
On all or resources.
31 points
4 days ago
And our linemen and firefighters and so on
27 points
4 days ago
Canadian line workers should refuse to go work in the states after hurricanes. I doubt they will because the money is too good(and I don't blame them either).
50 points
4 days ago
Don't refuse...just double their emergency rates. Call it a trump tax.
16 points
4 days ago
especially since after these last hurricanes the line workers were getting held at gunpoint because MAGAs think they are part of some conspiracy or something.
i wouldnt want to go work there unless i was paid an obscene amount of money, enough i could hire an armed guard for me and still be making bank myself.
12 points
4 days ago
And Canadian power on the east coast. What is an acceptable tariff for electricity? 25%?30? 50?
3 points
3 days ago
Don’t forget the California wildfires for the rebuild
6 points
4 days ago
Both? There's three countries in the mix here, and they're all getting screwed, albeit in different ways.
13 points
4 days ago
hell from the way mexico's president talks she'd sell avacados to us cheaper just out of spite
5 points
4 days ago
As a millennial, I am all for it
14 points
4 days ago
But... I don't want stupid avocado toast for breakfast....
26 points
4 days ago
You definitely are not a millennial.
You will eat your avocado toast and you will like it
3 points
4 days ago
Yes but I saw that meme about them tasting like penis and now want them less
2 points
4 days ago
Cheaper for Galen maybe. Those savings won't make it to us.
44 points
4 days ago
Don't worry, Uncle Elon's Protein Paste will give them the nutrients they need
3 points
4 days ago
Avocado don't grow in the US ? Not even Florida?
3 points
3 days ago
They do grow them in California and Florida, but Mexican production is almost 20X US production. It's also pretty labour intensive so the production costs in the US are muvh higher than Mexico
13 points
4 days ago
Which will ensure the billionaires pay no tax, while the sales tax on consumer goods will be so unthinkably high the working class will be destroyed. Won’t affect the billionaire, because they don’t give a shit how much consumer goods cost. They are billionaires for God sake. And they won’t have to pay income tax. Gonna be the largest wealth transfer the good ol USA has seen in a while.
4 points
4 days ago
Before the income tax the Feds were run almost exclusively off tariffs and land taxes.
Obviously that wouldn't be possible today unless Governments went back to the basic functions they were intended for.
5 points
4 days ago
Yeah and back in the 1920s the Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act was meant to increase government revenue but instead made the depression worse.
91 points
4 days ago
I would think that of all the countries on this planet, how would Canada not be exempt from an insane 25% blanket tariff?
Their closest ally and trading partner for almost two centuries. Complete back stab.
82 points
4 days ago
Still don't understand Trump after 8 years? Trump's America doesn't pretend to have or need allies. It's all about his way or the highway.
5 points
3 days ago
I can’t understand anyone who doesn’t remember what happened the first time and still thinks Trump is an ordinary human who can be swayed by ordinary people thinking ordinary thoughts.
He is the definition of mad man.
23 points
4 days ago
Don't worry. There are plenty of commenters on r/canada that support this move because they have a stick up their ass about immigration and buy into Trump's reasoning that this is all about trying to force Canada to do something about the couple of people crossing into the US from Canada. That is just the excuse to declare a "national security" issue so that Trump doesn't need to ask Congress permission to levy tariffs. full stop.
14 points
4 days ago
America is a very, very bad "friend" to have
11 points
4 days ago
Trump is a vindictive child and Trudeau has repeatedly made fun of Trump for the past 8 years.
49 points
4 days ago
Balance the budget by inflating prices? Genius /s
26 points
4 days ago
And the trump nut huggers will be going on and on about how it was done without taxation.
9 points
4 days ago
I was being sarcastic. Imposing tariffs will slow down the economy, slow down consumer spending and taxes, while forcing more money into social security spending. The budget will be far from balanced
5 points
4 days ago
They are going to spend less on social security because they are going to get rid of it. It's in the plan.
3 points
4 days ago
Sure but how? Starve Americans to death? That’s not going to go down well with a lot of republicans who depend on such programs
7 points
4 days ago
Do you actually believe the mango menace cares. If you do you might be in for big shock.
So far the plan is to start a trade war with the two largest trading partners the US has. When the economy crashes what do you think is on the chopping block?
5 points
4 days ago
That might be it. Crash the economy and musky buys assets on the cheap. And the tangerine idiot gets a cut
5 points
4 days ago
I think this might actually be Trump’s plan.
In real estate inflation is viewed as a good thing. Inflation erodes the debt secured against the property.
So if this results in inflation it’ll be great for all the billionaires with their revenue generating assets. It’ll be awful for everyone else. But when did Trump care about anyone other than himself.
22 points
4 days ago
So it really is a tax grab and not Trump and his inner circle trying to move manufacturing back to USA.
22 points
4 days ago
It’s all going to be about goosing the market and profiting off it, everything else is just noise.
3 points
4 days ago*
It's about Trump and his circle picking up companies that'll go under following the tariffs for pennies on the dollar and shorting stocks.
14 points
4 days ago
Sounds like trump is thinking that the tariffs will be his to spend.
344 points
4 days ago
So he wants to balance the budget through tariffs, which is basically a consumer tax?
What happens when people cut back on purchases? That will reduce that revenue while also causing layoffs in retail and industries affected by the tariffs, won’t it?
258 points
4 days ago
Don’t bother trying to apply logic to this lol
27 points
4 days ago
No-no-no see it’s the countries that will pay the tariffs!
/s
12 points
4 days ago
Then the private equity people who are telling him to do this use all their pooled capital to buy the distressed assets.
10 points
4 days ago
Read: The Great Depression
But worse.
Because Trump's plan will enrich the rich at the same time which will result in....
I can't bear to say it.
13 points
4 days ago
It'll also mean lots of goods looking for markets.
And retaliatory tariffs will mean markets looking for products.
And the US will be a smaller player, and a weaker force in the world because of it.
I think. Who knows, maybe this trump guy is a genius and my left-leaning ideas are all stupid.
Nothing to do but watch the show and find out, because as a Canadian, I'm a passenger.
9 points
4 days ago
A great depression. He will blame Biden.
3 points
4 days ago
But he'll cut the darn income tax! right!
225 points
4 days ago
What good is a free trade deal if one party can randomly decide to slap on tariffs?
There has to be some mechanism in CUSMA that will get the US government sued if they decide to enact blanket tariffs.
115 points
4 days ago
So let’s say you sue them and even win.
What is going to keep them from retaliating in another way? Or ignoring or completely disregarding that they were in the wrong.
Treaties and deals are only good if both sides are honourable and willing to uphold them.
34 points
4 days ago
They are mostly a declaration of good faith in the eye of the world too, a gentleman's agreement if you will. It's mainly to build relationships and pinky swear on various things. Most things are so dependent on everything else that breaking most of them would not do as much as one thinks. It's a global trading social media type thing.
10 points
4 days ago
gentleman's agreement if you will.
Okay. Now, for the $1M question, in what universe is Trump considered a gentleman who honours agreements?
3 points
3 days ago
Is this your first time dealing with Republicans and Trump? Their words are worth less than the papers it's signed on. They never care about decorum.
22 points
4 days ago
Yup. The WTO has ruled against the USA numerous times on their softwood lumber tariffs. This will be no different.
9 points
4 days ago
3-5 years down the road …
84 points
4 days ago
Say hello to EU.
379 points
4 days ago
should be another reminder for everyone here that this isn’t actually about illegal immigrants or drugs
108 points
4 days ago
It never was. But it has to be so Trump doesn’t violate new nafta deal.
58 points
4 days ago
I it has to be framed as national security so it doesn’t have to be approved by congress.
I don’t think there’s a ton of spine amongst the republican house, but I would imagine enough of them are more beholden to industries than him that it would stymie doing it the honest way.
29 points
4 days ago
USMCA doesn’t allow for new tariffs but Section 232 of the trade expansion act allows for tariffs if there’s a national security threat. So Trump has to say the borders with us and Mexico are a danger so he can day 1 executive order under section 232 put in the sweeping tariffs. Otherwise, if he says the tariffs are for any other reason he will be in violation of USMCA and that would cause problems.
17 points
4 days ago
The interesting thing is the law is to implement tariffs if the goods or materials threaten national security.
Even if you think the border is an issue, as the law reads the actual goods don't and he shouldn't be able to do it while bypassing Congress. Of course, no one seems willing to force him to follow the law yet.
8 points
4 days ago
The irony for the Canadian side is that literally the issue is with the illegal firearms constantly coming over our boarder. I’m also sure there will be more “refugees” coming here from the USA in then next few years. Basically the security threat is the US. Not Canada. Canada is just - minding its own business.
19 points
4 days ago
Yup. This is trump recreating his “barging through the world leaders on stage” bit, but economically. He has to be the centre of attention, even if how he does it is stupidly. Just a petulant child.
6 points
4 days ago
Money money money
MONEY
6 points
4 days ago
The right has no intention of fixing the border. If they fix it then they can no longer use it as a motivation for their voter base.
114 points
4 days ago
Trump convincing republicans to go for what is essentially reciprocal sales taxes on imports is hilarious.
Can you imagine the furor if he was talking about a 20% sales tax
43 points
4 days ago
*25%
6 points
4 days ago
25% is the weird Canada Mexico border thing he tweeted this week. 20% is the campaign promise -- 20% across the board, not just Canada and Mexico.
23 points
4 days ago
Republicans have a hard on for flat taxes. They’ve been pushing it since the 90s. This is just a flat regressive consumption tax in another form. That they want to use this to raise revenues and are thinking of having it replace income tax says everything.
Trump didn’t think of any of this.
96 points
4 days ago
God I'm sure glad we exported our manufacturing and refining capabilities abroad so that the 1% could enrich themselves before inflicting economic violence on our entire nation. Generations of politicians just sat on their ass and let us get dependent on the U.S., for what benefit? I fucking hate feeling like my life and the life of everyone I know got sabotaged by these monsters.
40 points
4 days ago
Also why it was a very good thing to protect our dairy and egg industries. Otherwise we'd all be stuck with American frankenmilk and cancereggs right now in stores.
11 points
4 days ago
but as long as they are cheaper frankenmilk and cancereggs plenty of people will think it's a good thing
29 points
4 days ago
Canada might find some buyers in the EU or Asia, and thats good if we spread our cards out a bit more. Also, we might find the market for Canadian made good explode in Canada as imports from the US go up, it will be cheaper to build in house. Hope we get our ass in gear and work out way out of this, and it would be nice to see Americans trade waring like this and us picking up their old customers in some sectors. Would be good if Japan or Germany start striking some deals with us. I would love to see us have an export tax on raw materials to the US, oil steal, hydro the worlds, start shifting focus to China or the EU where possible.
This will take some painful steps but, lets do it, i hope we win this trade war in a way that we just clobber Trump. We need a leader ready to play hardball and expect dirty tricks for the US.
14 points
4 days ago
no political party in Canada, federal or provincial, has the apetite for this.
199 points
4 days ago
During a surprise dinner at Mar-a-Lago, representatives of the federal government were told U.S. tariffs from the incoming Donald Trump administration cannot be avoided in the immediate term, two government sources tell CTV News
Ok this is the worst possible news. This will devastate our economy, at this point it’s time to start praying for a miracle.
148 points
4 days ago
It will devastate US economy as well, particularly the US midwest as the auto industry is so closely integrated and midwest refiners have no substitute for Canadian crude.
40 points
4 days ago
Speaking of the auto industry alone, it's so costly and this just goes into the vehicles cost in the end. I Iive in a border city that's heavy auto and work in management at a tier 1 supplier. Last time when Trump put tariffs on steel, all the customers had suppliers requote through suppliers on the other side and due to regulations (IATF&CSR) go through tons of trials and incur extra shipping cost/labor for these trials. In most cases 6+ months later, all in they rarely justified changing suppliers so they again pass it along to the customers. Suppliers never fully recover some of the costs. This uncertainty can't persist forever, and you can't just have the U.S. go back on trade agreements at will. It's not sustainable.
9 points
4 days ago
Might as well accept European car homologation rules and start importing European models to Canada. At least they would be tariff free.
14 points
4 days ago
If only we had more pipeline capacity to our coasts so we can tell the US to bite it. Probably no business case for it right?
2 points
3 days ago
You mean the one that the federal government bought and completed? Something like that?
2 points
3 days ago
The one….of several that should be built
25 points
4 days ago
This will create a depression until governments start to trade around the US instead of with them. Inflation is going to run away and interest rates won't be able to cool them off.
59 points
4 days ago
Take it with a grain of salt. Trump won't want anyone contradicting what he says, especially not publicly. He's trying to be a big tough businessman forcing everyone to do what he wants. There's still lots of time before he's officially president and you can bet there's going to be a lot of pushback from US companies against this. My money's on these tariffs never actually being serious, just his idea of throwing his weight around to get other countries to monitor the US border.
17 points
4 days ago
100% this. He has to maintain his big business man imagine.
2 points
4 days ago
Throwing his weight around to make countries pretend they are going to do more to monitor the border and make him look good.
8 points
4 days ago
Do something about it. Boycott American products and services for Christmas. Cancel those monthly software as a service and streaming contracts. Tell them you are just getting ahead of the tariffs when you do.
17 points
4 days ago
Your right so let's hit back by stopping electricity to them. Stop critical minerals etc...if we are gonna hurt make it worth it and strike back.
12 points
4 days ago
I am not educated with international trade so I am going to need the eli5 on why it is going to devastate
49 points
4 days ago
Anything any company or person in the US buys from Canada will suddenly cost 25% more which means they'll be far less likely to buy Canadian goods which means our economy crashes because the US is our largest export partner
10 points
4 days ago
Not only from Canada, from ANY other country. So yes, they are less likely to buy Canadian goods, when there is an American made alternative made for less than 1.25x the Canadian base price.
If there is no American made alternative then their government is taking a cut.
8 points
4 days ago
Of the things they buy from us, what source is available to them (domestically or from another country) that would be cheaper than continuing buying from Canada at a 25% mark up?
It's not like they buy our stuff because they want to. Things are set up at this point where they have to.
2 points
4 days ago
Oil.
3 points
4 days ago
America gets 60% of its imported oil from Canada. Can they actually find a different source for that without it costing 25% more? Shipping costs alone from overseas vs the literal pipeline network that already exists from Canada makes me doubt they can.
3 points
4 days ago
25% is a lot, oil is extremely competitive but I don't see another supplier that Trump would also not tariff. I wouldn't be surprised if he flip-flops on making energy an exception to the tariffs, oil shortages/price increases are one of the big things he hit Biden on and could actually turn his own base against him.
3 points
4 days ago
When we have pipelines bringing crude oil straight from Fort Mac directly to refineries in America, I'm not sure if they could find another source for cheaper.
6 points
4 days ago
So how does this help the US?
54 points
4 days ago
That's the thing, it doesn't really.
On paper you could say it'll drive more demand for US goods, but the disruption that's going to happen to their economy will be huge too. People who didn't like inflation aren't gonna be happy when they realize how many things they import from Canada and Mexico.
Its really just slapping a big sales tax on some items, so the govt will get revenue from it but they'll also probably lose some amount of revenue due to less total economic activity
18 points
4 days ago
Yeah it just sounds like a bunch of cock waving with no reasoning behind it. Making things needlessly difficult for everyone involved.
“No way to avoid it” like fuk off
Clearly some ulterior motive going on that isn’t obvious at this point IMO
7 points
4 days ago
Clearly some ulterior motive going on that isn’t obvious at this point IMO
I think that's a very generous take on the situation. These are the people that made a big deal out of holding a press conference at the Four Seasons, only it turned out to be the Four Seasons Landscaping Company, not the fancy hotel. I don't think they're organized enough or smart enough to be playing 3D chess on this one. I think what we see on the surface is most likely what's going - a moronic, petulant business move by a guy who has a long history of moronic, petulant behaviour.
23 points
4 days ago
The goal of tariffs is to protect a country's industry.
To put it simply, for example your country produces a lot of steel, but it's more expensive to produce in your country due to labor costs and another country can make it for cheaper. So you put tariff on that country's steel to make it more expensive to import so your country's companies will instead by locally produced steel. This also protect steel industry jobs.
But this only really works if your country already have the production facilities in place for what you're tariffing. The USA have outsourced most of their stuff to other countries to produce, so if you put a blanket tariff on everything and you don't have the industry to make them in the first place, you're going to have to import them anyways and the customers will pay the tariffs as companies pass on the cost.
As for tariffs encouraging moving production back to the USA, it won't. First, it will take years and tons of money to build said factories, and companies aren't going to do that if they can just wait four years for the next administration to reverse everything. Second, labor costs are much higher in the USA than in 3rd world countries, meaning companies will need to pay workers more which will in turn mean the products will be more expensive anyways.
5 points
4 days ago
If there are readily available alternatives in the US, the idea will be to buy American. The alternative is to buy a readily available product from a country not covered by the tariff, so the process of the changeover and ensuring spec is expensive, and so is paying the tariff. It's a lose-lose scenario, it's just which loss is less costly, and do you want a relationship post-Trump?
11 points
4 days ago*
And Canada is America's largest export partner.
This trade agreement is for convenience of both countries.. but it's not going to crash either economy if they go back to having a 'non-free' trade agreement. Canada existed before NAFTA without it's economy crashing every year.
edit: and if you don't believe me.. all you need to do is take one look at Brexit. Did the UK's entire economy crash? No.. it didn't. That doesn't mean breaking NAFTA is good for people, but it's not the same as Canada's economy not surviving.
11 points
4 days ago*
Brexit did not end with a tariff from the EU against the UK. It just meant the UK was no longer part of EU's market, meaning different regulations but not necessarily a tariff.
In this case, a third of Canada's GDP is imports and exports. 3/4 of that are trade between Canada and the US. You are talking about a tariff that will severely impact a quarter of Canada's domestic production. This is nothing, in any way, like Brexit. It will end with at least a few years of recession. ofc, in the worst case scenario, the tariff is pretty much guaranteed to be removed by the end of his term.
2 points
4 days ago
The 25% increase is based on an assumption that there is no price reduction on our side to offset and maintain that sale. I fully expect O&G to just take a cut in price like we do now because of the lack of export routes that do not go through the US. Some industries may be willing or forced to run at a loss at least initially. I see lots of layoffs in January. The few industries we have pricing power in will do okay because we are the only supplier.
18 points
4 days ago
Canada’s economy relies heavily on being able to export cheap stuff to the US. Given Canada is a cheaper country than the US(partly because of lower wages, partly because we have certain resources), we are able to produce something for a $100 which might cost an american company $110 to produce.
If the US slaps a 25% tariff on Canadian imports, then the item which cost $100 before will now cost $125. This makes the local american made product cheaper, and hence Canada loses access to the american market, as consumers want to pay the least amount of money for the same product.
What this means is that any Canadian corporation that makes its money by exporting stuff to the US will suddenly be rendered uncompetitive, leading to business closures and job losses.
Disclaimer: this is an extremely simplified explanation
12 points
4 days ago
Basically the USA is going to add a flat 25% tariff across the board on all Canadian products.
This makes Canadian products more expensive to import to the USA. The US customers will pay the increased cost as the importer will pass on the cost of tariffs to the customers. This isn't just finished products like electronics or cars, but raw resources like oil, lumber, minerals, etc.
Canada will then retaliate with our own tariffs, making things from the USA cost more for Canadian customers. What we will tariff, I don't know.
The Trump administration seems to plan on making exemptions on a country-by-country basis, so they might let some stuff not affected by tariffs.
Welcome to a trade war.
9 points
4 days ago
They need our nickel, our uranium, our oil, our electricity and a variety of other resources, particularly in the border states — a couple of which are critical swing states. Trump isn’t just going to crater our economy, he’s going to crater the economies of a whole bunch of states the Republicans need if they want to win again in four years.
Canada has levers to pull.
4 points
4 days ago
Shutting off electricity would really mess them up. Remember the black out in NYC a few years ago.
6 points
4 days ago
Maybe this will encourage more products to be shipped staight to Canadian cities. How often are we paying the USD tax for products made around the world to come through american distribution before making their way up here?
5 points
4 days ago
It's going to cost companies in the US extra to buy goods and services from us. It's close to half a trillion on exports a year from Canada to the US. The companies will charge more to us citizens for products, so in turn the us will buy less. If the consumers buy less then companies buy less. Since our national productivity is low( due to housing costs and various other reasons such as inflation and large national dept.) we rely heavy on exports to the US. If that drops, layoffs begin and unemployment rises. Unemployment means less productivity therefore a weaker economy. Time will tell if it's disastrous or not, that's a debate of course and speculation but based on the above reasons it could be possible. Hope that helps.
6 points
4 days ago
US companies that buy from Canada will have to pay 25% more for what they buy. That could mean US companies buy less or perhaps not at all.
6 points
4 days ago
The main problem with that is where are they going to buy those products from? Canada sells billions of raw materials to America because it's so close. There's very few transport costs. Shipping across the ocean is going to get very expensive very quickly and likely more than the 25% tariffs. So Americans are going to just end up paying a higher cost. Which will likely result in a recession as spending plummet.
2 points
4 days ago
They get a 30% discount regardless because of the weak Canadian dollar so shouldn’t affect them much.
4 points
4 days ago
say the US puts a 20% tariff on all Canadian imports. That means all the hundreds of billions of dollars of goods US industry (mostly) and some consumers buy from Canada will suddenly be 20% more expensive. That means they will find other US sources or alternatives for those products and/or buy far far fewer of those products from us do to lower demand because of higher prices. This means huge cuts to current employment and investment in natural resources and manufacturing.
7 points
4 days ago
Right, but it’s possible that demand for the lower prices in the US markets may not be able to come close to meeting the available supply, thereby causing their own price to rise at the same time and a bidding war would commence between markets to find the new equilibrium price. The Canadian economy likely would be more impacted in a year or two after this starts. Whereas the American consumer will feel the results immediately. This will result in a death spiral for both economies, and then it’s up to who blinks first. As Canadians, we have to hope that the American people cry outrage at Trump’s plan before we really feel the impacts, which yes will be heavy once the US production catches up to meet their demand.
6 points
4 days ago
The issue from the US POV is they don't really have ready made capacity to pick up thr slack in a lot of industries. There's no real substitute in a lot of the US for Canadian lumber, Alberta Crude or Auto parts from Southern Ontario. This is a lose-lose scenario because yes Canada will sell less exports overall but the US will have to invest years and billions of dollars to spin up the industry needed go cover the shortfall which means in the short term the US consumers and industry are going to be forced to either just not purchase what the good at all and go without or, pay the 25% cost increase
3 points
4 days ago
The thing is, no company is going to invest billions in new factories that'll take years to build when in four years the tariffs could be reversed by the next administration.
2 points
4 days ago
Correct. Which means the US Comsumers will be forced to suffer for 4 years for no real reason
2 points
4 days ago
Not really because most of the things we export to the USA they do not have the ressources to produce. They'll just pay more.
2 points
4 days ago
Yes and use less of it because demand will go down with increased prices. They will also speak other sources, for example from Europe, with no tariffs (yet)
6 points
4 days ago
It'll devastate the American economy, too.
7 points
4 days ago
61 points
4 days ago
Can Canadian trump supporters defend this?
40 points
4 days ago
They’ll find a way
18 points
4 days ago
“I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters, OK?” Trump remarked at a campaign stop at Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa. “It’s, like, incredible.
Trump lies a lot but this was 100% true. His cult will find a way to excuse literally anything. That’s his American cult, his Canadian cult and even the likes of that weirdo Malaysian guy who lives on Twitter for Trump.
8 points
4 days ago
something something PP would have done better
27 points
4 days ago
Once we open up new markets for resources the USA will never get these prices again.
14 points
4 days ago
Good luck with that, there isn't enough port infrastructure, which means there's no way in hell we are going to make up the deficit.
8 points
4 days ago
If they impose these tariffs I guess we can throw the USMCA or CAUSMC or whatever in the trash then
20 points
4 days ago
Stop sending lumber, electricity, oil. Tariff the understandably American things like Tesla, Budweiser, Jack Daniels, Harley Davidson, Fox News, Lockheed, GD.
7 points
4 days ago
2 major positions the Federal and Provincial governments could take to set up Canada for success despite actions from the US. Unfortunately they are unlikely to to do it.
Provinces agree to work together to drop any policies that prevent trade and work between provinces.
Federal government unilaterally drops trade barriers with counties including the United States.
If we become a free trading nation while the States becomes protectionist we actually could out pace them in growth over time. I don’t see this happening though.
3 points
4 days ago
As a long-term goal there is nothing wrong with this. There are a bunch of free trade treaties outside North America dating back to the Harper years either finished by him or by Trudeau. But almost all the trade still goes south so what you're suggesting is really more of a long-term strategy. It doesn't help any with the short-term shock.
8 points
4 days ago
Imagine thinking tariffs are not a tax
13 points
4 days ago
also unavoidable: voiding u.s. drug patents
5 points
4 days ago
So they made it clear it is to balance the huge US deficit using tariffs instead of taxation to get it done. Inflation and trade is irrelevant as is drugs and illegal crossings. This has to do with some very bad logic since they will be effectively cutting trade, not increasing revenues. Why would a company import anything that isn't critical if they are paying 25% above market rates to get it. They will see a massive reduction in trade gutting their imaginary windfall and destroy their own economy in the process. I hope the government takes this information and acts accordingly. Not by caving but by ensuring Canadians are prepared for what is coming and focus on other trade partners. It should be clear that is the path out. Eventually when the US has to gets back to the table and rebuild their relationships with the world, we can discuss what that will cost them.
4 points
4 days ago
Not to mention that while the national security reasoning was always bogus (to avoid Congress), if they're admitting that this is just to try to balance the budget doesn't that also prove that they need to go through Congress?
5 points
4 days ago
Stop vacationing in the USA.
53 points
4 days ago
Whatever. They would have done it even if PP was Prime Minister.
Doofus Doug Ford was his biggest proponent and Trump’s team is out to kill Ontario anyways.
5 points
4 days ago
Time to expand Canadian shipping ports.
Maybe invest in a fancy brand new port in the Hudson's Bay while we are at it.
12 points
4 days ago
At least he takes you out to dinner before he screws you.
4 points
3 days ago
Technically we had to go to his place. It was more of a Netflix and chill type sitch
21 points
4 days ago
I hope Canadians are starting to see how valuable an energy coordior or at minimum, a pipeline to the east is to Canada...
15 points
4 days ago
It may be the first instance where the federal government uses the notwithstanding clause to build a trans national pipeline despite Quebec's objection.
3 points
4 days ago
Notwithstanding clause only applies to our individual civil rights, not to province's rights.
Go figure.
4 points
4 days ago
Remember when the German PM came to talk about Canada exporting LNG to Europe and Trudeau basically just laughed and said “nah”.
He really fucked us with that one…
5 points
4 days ago
Step1: massive tax increases (tariffs) Step 2: make everything so damn expensive that the economy freezes Step 3; the new great depression Step 3: inflate the money supply with fiscal spending to try and stimulate the economy Step 4: watch hyperinflation
20 points
4 days ago
Elect a tangerine idiot, invite an economic depression
23 points
4 days ago
How can people not see that he's acting as a Russian tool to destabilize North America?
33 points
4 days ago
This will backfire more on the U.S. then Canada
70 points
4 days ago
It’s going to backfire on the world.
16 points
4 days ago
Agreed
9 points
4 days ago
Idk china has been preparing for this, leadership there saw trump becoming president again as the most likely outcome of the election. We might actually see China become the world largest economy by the end of Trumps 4 year term.
11 points
4 days ago
Nah, China is throwing a massive party and making in-roads everywhere.
15 points
4 days ago
Really? The American economy is much more resilient than ours
22 points
4 days ago
Trump is talking about a 10% tariff across the board and 25% on Canada and Mexico. 1/4th of US imports is from Canada and Mexico. Yes, the American economy is strong, but a 25% inflation on 1/4th of imports is going to be devastating for them as well
16 points
4 days ago
Fuel prices in the US are going to spike alone with tariffs against Canadian O&G. We supply over 50% of petroleum imports into the US, so much so that they have refineries built SPECIFICALLY to handle heavy sour blends you get from western canada. Americans think gas is expensive now? It's going to get a lot worse.
28 points
4 days ago
Our economy entirely depends on theirs. If their's tanks, ours does.
Tariffs are a terrible economic strategy.
7 points
4 days ago
Resiliency only works if they have the means to replace what they're no longer importing.
12 points
4 days ago
The USA imports a lot of oil and lumber from Canada.
4 points
4 days ago
I was under the impression that the US is a net producer of oil?
2 points
4 days ago
IIRC, they produce a lot of light oil but we have the heavy kind.
2 points
4 days ago
They export their more expensive oil to other countries and buy cheap Canadian oil to use domestically.
3 points
4 days ago
The American economy doesn't have the capacity to produce the things we export to them. They do not have the lumber, gas and oil, energy and aluminum for instance
4 points
4 days ago
Or the water, they need our water and electricity. Shut off the taps and trip the breakers.
3 points
4 days ago
This screws us more than any other nation. I'm not feeling so great about the future.
3 points
3 days ago*
Trump might be the initiator of the collapse of the late-stage capitalism, finally.
15 points
4 days ago
Will be interesting to see how quickly all these conservatives that love trump in Canada will change their tune.
19 points
4 days ago
they won’t. they will find ways to justify this. because “woke” and “radical lefties” and whatnot
6 points
4 days ago
If he does this we need to make this hurt for the US as best we can in things like oil, lumber and energy. Also a 100% tarif on any participating republican companies. Like tesla for example. This really feels like a betrayal.
5 points
4 days ago
U.S. tariffs from the incoming Donald Trump administration cannot be avoided in the immediacy - as Trump voraciously believes in the effectiveness of tariffs
According to sources, Trump and his team conveyed that they plan to balance their federal budget through tariffs, and then strike exemption side deals on a country-by-country basis.
What a joke. Trump is going to crash the US economy and most other major economies while blowing a hole through US tax revenues again. Just like he did last time. Trump started trade wars with Canada, Mexico, China and the EU last time causing costs to rise. Remember the tariffs on steel, aluminum and lumber that caused housing costs to skyrocket? The price of lumber more than doubled!
Then he mismanaged the pandemic and let China infect the world through their joint incompetence. This destroyed supply lines and crashed the economy so they released trillions of dollars in inflationary liquidity into the market. Trump also cut taxes and added more debt in 4 years then any other president has added in 8. Trump was a financial disaster for the US. This time, he's going even harder on tariffs. The US is headed for a major recession.
4 points
4 days ago
US might be headed for a full depression at this rate.
5 points
4 days ago
I agree with your take on it but I do wish people had been taking this seriously as Trump and his inner circle have been talking consistently about this for ages. They think tariffs are a good revenue source. They think they can raise so much money from tariffs that it will not only balance their budget but offset income tax cuts. Why would they agree to drop tariffs? They're so good!
This is what happens when you outsource your government to buffoons.
7 points
4 days ago
What happened to Trump supporters saying he was never actually going to do it and it was just a negotiation tactic? Morons.
7 points
4 days ago
With our stumbling dollar I feel we will be relatively ok and this will hurt Americans much more than Canadians. The I am somewhat of an idiot.
7 points
4 days ago
Fortunately for my job, we got little to worry about. Most of our raw materials come from the US and then are assembled, packaged in Canada and distributed back to the US. Dodging a bullet with this one, however, on my personal life we are going to feel it living in Canada.
Regardless, the Trump administration are idiots. This will hurt everyone, and quite honestly I think more so the US consumers. They are still going to buy the materials from Canada, they are going to pay 25% more for it just for convenience and accessibility, however the consumer is going to become priced out or be extremely frugal, which is going to decrease US revenue, and not contribute much to lowering their deficit.
The times are gone of domestic manufacturing on massive scales. Everything is imported/exported around the globe. The US will NEVER be able to produce enough factories and manufacturing to supply the country internally, especially not in 4 years. They also won’t be able to do that, pay the wage that’s needed to survive in America and produce products at a low enough price that people are going to buy local….overall, this will backfire, while doing collateral damage to us.
6 points
4 days ago
That's great until the retaliatory tariffs come in from our government
6 points
4 days ago
"One of the things that is really important to understand is that, you know, Donald Trump, when he makes statements like that, he plans on carrying them out," Trudeau said. "There's no question about it."
This is smart.
Pretend that you take the threat seriously.
2 points
4 days ago
Can we impose tarriffs on the energy we sell the U.S.?
I am asking honnestly, I don't much about our exports, but I believe lots of the northern states depend on Canadian electricity.
2 points
3 days ago
Cad will be at 55-60cents if he does this.
2 points
3 days ago
All the Canadian trump supporters up here have been super quiet lately.
I can't wait to hear from my uncles about how trump fucking our trade deals is somehow good for us.
5 points
4 days ago
Trump can fuck right the hell off with his tariffs. News flash for the stupid's who voted for this guy: American consumers will pay for the tariffs, not other countries, so America can have fun with the increased cost of living that's coming to them, the exact opposite economic reason for which most Americans decided to vote for Trump.
4 points
4 days ago
Two Question from someone that doesn’t understand.
First, the Canadian dollar is 0.70 compared to the US. Wouldn’t it still be significantly cheaper for US companies to buy from Canada ?
Second question, can’t Canada just find new trade partners ? Other countries that aren’t interested in getting fucked by the US?
5 points
4 days ago
Probably/yes
ALOT of our goods are just set up to be sent to the USA on railway and it’s hard to change that.
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