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© Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Canada tariffs on U.S. goods from ketchup to lawn mowers begin
By PAUL WISEMAN and TRACEY LINDEMAN OTTAWA, Ontario©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.
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Tokyo-Engr
It sounds like the Canadian plant will probably have to start ramping up operations.
It is going to be interesting how this turns out. I do not like at all the way Trump is handling this however there are a few truths:
NAFTA was not a good deal for the U.S.
The decline of the steel/aluminum industry in the U.S. (along with other manufacturing, such as equipment necessary to run our power grid) is a national security threat if the world ever enters a SHTF scenario, which seems entirely possible these days.In this realm, Trump's business experience really does not help him as global trade on this level is way beyond what he experienced in real estate. (I would imagine Trudeau is a bit out of his league as well - but at least he is not sending out Tweets, etc.)
Dango bong
oh no... very scary... (not)
Yubaru
Pray tell what world leader IS capable? Please don't say Abe.
That's what advisers are for but it seems to me that Trump doesn't listen, and the only thing he will listen to is when people start getting laid off or worse.
Wolfpack
Once all the tariffs for all products are evened up on both sides then it will be in both sides interest to lower them together.
WA4TKG
That's too bad for Canada...cuz Toro Lawn Mowers are the best you can get.
I've had one that barely cost a couple hundred dollars and it's over ten years old and still
tearing up the yard quite nicely. Sorry Canada....but I'll be up for some B.C. bud, SOON!
jcapan
Projecting much. The straight guy who's secure in his own skin says hey that Trudeau is a good looking bloke. The self-loathing closeted troll OTOH...
CrazyJoe
There will be no new NAFTA deal. Everyone knows Trump will break any agreement and be back for more. When was the last time a bully demanded only today's lunch money?
Happy Canada day, neighbors! Sorry for the twit in the White House; we'll be friends again soon, but in the meantime, just ignore him and make sure you tax the living heck out of exports made by his backers.
rainyday
Yeah, Canada is small. It’s a good thing they have the EU, Japan, China....and pretty much the rest of the world joining in on their side.
Everybody looking forward to the Trump recession?
Tokyo-Engr
@Yubaru: You are correct that most international leaders are not expert at the complex issues regarding international trade. In Trump's case however he is making some pretty wild statements using social media, which is nuts. I do not see other world leaders initiating such wild claims.
It is going to be interesting to see how this ends up as I do not think we have seen the end of this. As Wolfpack pointed out there could be a ratcheting down of tariffs when the dust settles.
If one looks at some of the components needed for critical infrastructure in the U.S. (i.e. large high voltage power transformers as one single example), the fact these are no longer made in the U.S. is a national security issue. There are man made and natural events which could cause multiple failures.
Corporate greed off-shored much of U.S. manufacturing and I think certain things crucial to the U.S. infrastructure should be made in the U.S. and this is currently not the case.
sf2k
Happy Canada Day! (our birthday is today July 1st).
French's ketchup has put a lot of successful social media pressure on Heinz for abandoning Canada and even Heinz friendly stores that weren't selling it were forced by peer pressure to stock up on it. I expect that to continue
NAFTA is going to go and that's fine. If USA can't read its own statistics or know what a surplus means then there's no need to trade with such lunatics. Border state agreements will be far more congenial than Washington math failures.
USA farming is a mess of subsidies and bankruptcies that we don't have. The 270% tariff on dairy works by protecting Canadian farmers in our supply management system, otherwise we'd be inundated with low quality HGH American milk which is illegal. At least it's market driven unlike the crocodile tears of the USA with $20 billion a year in their own subsidies which we can in no way compete with. We have 1/10th the population. Maybe don't make crap? Dairy complaints are a canard. Most countries protect their food supply.
Hopefully gives us a push on CPTPP 11 nation free trade agreement and the CETA European agreement
Also we own breakfast, we have the world wide maple syrup reserve.
onewrldoneppl
meanwhile this is also happening:
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/395102-leaked-trump-bill-would-abandon-key-wto-rules-axios
onewrldoneppl
this is also happening:
http://thehill.com/policy/finance/394898-trump-no-longer-talks-a-lot-about-the-stock-market-heres-why
Wiskal
NAFTA was not a good deal for the U.S
It was a good deal for US and when it no longer serve its purpose decided it's no longer a good deal.
Did those countries put a gun in US head to sign the deal or was it the other way around 25 years ago?
US is becoming like a third world country, ie, North Korea, where the paper is not worth what it's written on.
West sea
No more import/export. Produce your own. How about that?
Tokyo-Engr
@Wiskal - You are right. No one put a gun to the US' head regarding NAFTA. It was a corporate sellout of the American worker bought and paid for by the US politicians and corporate elite. So, let me rephrase. Not a good deal for the US worker and for me that is not a good deal for the US.
I remember very well when NAFTA was signed as I was an adult living in the U.S. at the time. No one put a gun to Mexico and Canada's head either.
You are right about the US slowly becoming a 2nd world country, and the currency becoming worth less each day (thanks to fractional reserve banking) however this is a problem shared throughout the world.
rainyday
True, but of course it isn't in anyone's interests for the tariffs to have been imposed in the first place either, so we seem to have already left the world in which rational calculation of interest rules the day. Trump seems intent on doubling down on each failed bet he makes with tariffs, and caving in to his demands (which aren't even fully articulated) isn't a politically viable option for any other country. This is going down the road to escalation which could cause serious run away effects on the global economy.
The only solution I see is for Congress to take this out of Trump's hands before he starts the 2018 (or 2019) version of the 2008 collapse.
Goodlucktoyou
Hehehe. When will we start tariffs?
Dango bong
Except for the face that almost every industrialized nation has about 30% of its investments in the US. Then again its Canada so who cares?
Dango bong
They will all first have to pull out their investments, local companies and citizens. No other country has more investments from overseas than the US and Japan even invests close to 50% if its entire international money in the US.. You can keep dreaming though....
Dango bong
Yes the EU and China revving up to invest in the Canadian stock market...
Tokyo-Engr
Actually the comparison to North Korea is laughable.
rainyday
We are talking about trade (goods crossing borders), not international investment (capital crossing borders). Different dynamics are at work with respect to each because the US has a trade deficit, but it invests more overseas than overseas investors invest in the US.
With respect to tariffs, Canada's tariffs are small in terms of the overall economy, but come as the US is also about to be hit by much larger scale tariffs from the EU, China and Japan. This will have serious adverse effects on the US economy, as will the tariffs the US imposed itself, which are just leading to higher prices on steel and aluminum for US companies. The US is basically offsetting the advantage it has due to the trade deficit it has by taking on everyone at the same time, allowing the cumulative sting of China, Canada, EU, Japan (and others) tariffs to be much more powerful than if it had taken on just China (or any other one country).
WIth respect to investment, the US is at a disadvantage since it has way more assets in other countries than the other way around. It is particularly vulnerable in China where American companies face the risk of being subject to a raft of administrative actions that could put them out of business. The US can do the same to Chinese companies with operations in the US, but there aren't enough of them to counterbalance it. There haven't been any such actions with respect to investment so far, probably because the US is at such a disadvantage, but if Trump pushes too far on trade, the US will eventually get hit on investment as well.
Ray Payne
Trudeau is like an ant kicking an elephant in the butt. Watch out Trudeau for the back lash.
rainyday
And Trump is like an elephant trying to kick an ant. Given the difficulty that an elephant has in actually seeing an ant and kicking it, he is most likely to miss and just end up injuring his own foot.
FizzBit
I think I'll go out tonight and get me some Canadian food....
oh wait....
bass4funk
Spot on. No more poutine for me.
Andrew Topolski
Irrelevant. Tariffs dont really affect the US because the US does not need any particular country for anything. The US is one of the only self sufficiency capable countries on the planet and if Canada becomes too expensive there are dozens of other countries willing to take up the slack and if needed the US could produce whatever was needed as well. Trump stated at the G7 an end game of completely removing all tariffs, all trade blockages and all subsidies. It would appear the Canadian, European and some other countries politicians prefer to keep tariffs, blockages and subsidies in place because with all of these and the so called trade deals the politicians can siphon money from trade and control things to their own benefit. Remove the tariffs, blockages and subsidies, the politicians cant siphon money and have no control. Good luck Canada, the USA doesnt really need you.