responding to tariffs with economic blockade likely will cost USA some money - but for Canada it will be devastating. Militant rhetoric is totally stupid and self harming. Feels like trudeau wants to be next zelensky - ovations at oscars, picture in vogue etc What Canada must do is to ask Trump directly - what they want - create signed detailed plan- mobilize all resources canada has to achieve it and invite people from US administration so they would monitor progress daily Unless canada does that they will stay proud but very poor
For the record the US Canada border and country to country relationship is (or was) probably the best relationship in the world. We literally work together almost seamlessly. All of our lives are better because of this relationship in virtually every area. There is no reason for this type of stuff. It’s just stupid.
I do not know why Trump mentions the phrase "...use military force if necessary" to take an ally democratic country. Therefore, I agree, it's totally stupid and self harming. Canada knows what Trump wants and its more of what the United States is already getting from Canada...more access for it's military in Canada's strategic land location, and its resources (e.g. oil, natural gas, electricity, minerals, wider market to sell U.S. dairy products, and a wider market to sell U.S. guns). The U.S. territorial expansionism will result in more school shootings in Canada and a higher violent crime rate to match the United States (not sarcasm). Further, based upon how Americans reacted and behaved during the Pandemic versus Canada and how Canada took care of its citizens when unemployed during the Pandemic... along with the facts that Canada government and citizens out performed America in its performance (e.g. hospitalization, infections, deaths) against Covid. Thus, Canada can endure more pain (more accepting) from a Tariff War than the United States citizens because if such an extreme is reached in a Tariff War...Canadians will not buckle as the Americans will and had shown in the Covid Pandemic crisis. Simply, the quality of life is much better in Canada than in the United States. Maybe the U.S. wants some of that happiness too. P.S. I'm a winter outdoor person and its one of the reasons why I made Canada my primary residence and the United States my secondary residence...more bang for the buck in Canada. wrbtrader
In the mean time...Musk runs Tesla and seems to forget sales has dropped a whopping -76% in Germany and dropping fast in other European countries because they do not like his meddling in their politics. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/05/business/tesla-germany-sales-elon-musk.html https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-falling-sales-numbers-should-worry-elon-musk-2025-3 wrbtrader
How many times do I have to tell you... Elon invented a time machine in 2110. He's come back to save us. BTFD!
The "real reason" for Trump to impose tariffs? Just like in his first term, Trump uses tariffs as a form of crony capitalism complete with graft that lands up in his pocket. Commentary: Trump’s tariffs open the door to crony capitalism https://finance.yahoo.com/news/amer...r-stage-in-trump-trade-wars-20-181938189.html With President Trump’s tariffs now set to exact a price from thousands of businesses, the stage is set for the next act in the drama: special favors exempting certain applicants from the punishment, giving them an advantage over less-lucky competitors. Just one day after enacting new 25% tariffs on most imports from Canada and Mexico, the Trump administration said it is giving a one-month exemption to three domestic automakers, General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis. That means vehicles they make at plants in Mexico and Canada and import to the United States won’t be subject to the tariffs right away, provided those vehicles comply with certain domestic content rules. That might sound like a sensible grace period for an important industry likely to get hammered by the new tariffs. It could also forestall price hikes on imported vehicles that could range from $4,000 to $12,000. But this exemption process, which Trump used extensively when he imposed tariffs during his first term, games the system in favor of whoever is able to sway the rule makers. “The exemption process is opaque and conceivably could be influenced by political favoritism,” the Peterson Institute for International Economics explained in a 2019 report on the tariffs Trump imposed during his first term. “Decisions to grant or deny exemptions are not explained, yet outcomes give real money to the lucky applicants and take real money from the unlucky.” The tariff process allows importers to ask the government for exemptions, and the 2019 Peterson analysis found that the first Trump administration granted about 35% of the requests. Reports from back then highlighted confounded executives trying to figure out how the exemption process worked and hiring trade specialists who might have some sway with Trump’s trade mandarins. According to the analytics tool QuantGov, the tariffs Trump levied against China during his first term generated more than 52,000 exemption requests. The Trump administration granted about 6,400 of them. A similar analysis found that the steel and aluminum tariffs Trump imposed in 2018 generated 72,771 exemption requests. The Trump administration granted about half of those requests, or more than 35,000. Trump’s latest exclusion for the Detroit automakers demonstrates how an arbitrary government decision can instantly disrupt a competitive marketplace. Most of the foreign automakers that sell cars in the United States have factories here — and build some of their models in America. Some of them also have factories in Mexico and Canada, where they build cars that get sold in the United States. But Trump (so far) hasn’t offered those automatkers any tariff exemptions. Ford, for example, assembles the popular Mustang Mach-E in Mexico. That vehicle should escape the 25% import tariff, for a month at least. Honda builds its ADX crossover in Mexico, and that vehicle will not escape the tariff. Nor will the BMW 3 series sedan, the Infiniti QX50, the Volkswagen Jetta, or the Audi Q5, all built in Mexico. So as long as the tariff exemption is in place, Ford’s vehicle will have a major cost advantage over others it may compete with. Trump, of course, could offer the same tariff exemption to foreign automakers. In fact, Trump’s press secretary suggested a whole slew of tariff exemptions could be coming, just as they did in 2018 and 2019. Trump is "open to hearing about additional exemptions,” Karoline Leavitt said at the White House on March 5. That’s the whole problem. Trump and his trade honchos can offer just about any firm an exemption — or leave it saddled with tariffs. That creates an obvious perverse incentive for businesses to do Trump’s bidding, whether it’s good for business or not. Trump isn’t shy about using his leverage to punish critics, push conspiracy theories, and pursue unrelated goals, and tariffs can be a powerful lever. Trump, for his part, says he only wants to drive production of cars and many other products back to America. That may be part of his motivation. But the more tariffs Trump imposes, the more power he has over American businesses and everything they stand for. The real reason Trump may think “tariff” is the “most beautiful word in the dictionary” is that it brings thousands of supplicants to his court, asking for mercy.