Trumpfuckistan: Canada Says Its A Full Tariff War

Last night Trump destroyed history’s most successful economic partnership by triggering a lose-lose tariff war with Canada.

He’s gone full-tilt Trumpfuckistan.

His new tariffs on Canadian goods started at midnight yesterday. Negotiations were promising until he added some last-minute twists. Canadian Prime Minister Carney had had enough, and said that Canada planned to match his levies “dollar for dollar”.

If Canada retaliates, Trump has promised he would “to level out the playing field once again.” And no doubt Canada will counter those measures…and so it might climb.

Trump has already announced that the two countries had come close to a deal.

Canada’s economy is growing at four times the rate of Trump’s economy, and it is on course to have the second-fastest growth in the G7 over the next two years.

Canada now ranks as the most attractive country in the world for infrastructure investment, as the US national debt passes $40-trillion…one-quarter of which was caused by Trump alone.

This is the bridge Trump is burning.

Leaks said that Trump wanted full first rights to all Canadian minerals. Trump’s proposed final tariffs were a 15% increase over Biden’s tariffs. It was a move to make Canada a resource colony to the US…a kind of vassal state.

Anger surged in Canada.

Innocent US citizens are likely to pay a hefty price if energy costs rise as Canadian electricity and oil exports go up.

Trump’s illegal tariffs that violate his own USMCA trade agreement have been called out by Canada, which has finally reached the end of its rope with ‘negotiations’ with Trump.

Hundreds of thousands of people on both sides of the border will lose their jobs.

Canada has cards to play: electricity, potash fertilizer, aluminum, steel, lumber, oil, and critical minerals.

Carney’s statement on breaking off he talks read in part: “last-minute changes in the U.S. proposed terms were unfair, uneconomic, and called into question the reliability of any deal.”

Bluntly put: we can’t trust Trump anyway.

Carney’s position is echoed by the provincial premiers. Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, Canada’s most populous province and home to the country’s important auto industry. “As we fight to protect Canadian sovereignty and economic security, everything needs to be on the table. Ontario is ready to do its part.” Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew called Trump a “bad person” and “not to be trusted” and urged Canada to keep fighting rather than rush to make concessions.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce warned that “higher tariffs would damage both economies, drive up costs for U.S. families, further disrupt critical supply chains, and risk the 13 million American jobs that depend on” the North American trade pact.

At midnight tonight, the U.S. intends to impose a 50% tariff on roughly $28 billion of Canadian goods. “Canada will match those tariffs dollar for dollar to protect our workers and businesses,” said Carney.

“In the coming days, the government will introduce additional measures to support Canadian workers and businesses, building on the nearly $25 billion in support provided over the past 18 months.”

While Trump was declaring war and supporting Russia and North Korea, Carney signed a dozen new economic and security agreements across four continents, plus eight new cooperation frameworks.

Canada has signed a trade deal with Indonesia, an investment pact with the United Arab Emirates, and is aiming to secure agreements with the Philippines, Thailand, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and India as well as the South American trade bloc Mercosur this year. Canada has also inked a more limited trade deal with China and pushed to increase trade with Japan, Vietnam, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Canada’s economic growth is accelerating, Carney insisted: ” We are advancing nearly $500 billion in major infrastructure projects. In parallel, we are unlocking new export markets for Canadian businesses. Our existing free trade deals already provide Canada with preferential access to 1.5 billion consumers, and we are on track to double that market access by the end of this year.”

Many studies have been released that forecast little damage to Canada, including one by the Canadian American Business Council. The end of free trade does not mean the end of Canada.

Trump’s 50-per-cent tariffs would apply to nearly $28-billion worth of Canadian goods, or about five per cent of Canada’s exports to the US. The effect on Canada’s gross domestic product would be relatively small. Royal Bank of Canada pegs the impact at 0.4 per cent of GDP, while Capital Economics estimates the fallout at 0.6 per cent.

This is something that Trump does not understand. Canada is no longer willing to let him punch it in the face. Especially when America would lose far more.

A retaliatory Canadian tariff on electricity to the US would affect the border states such as New York, New England, Michigan, Minnesota, and parts of the Pacific Northwest. Six million American homes rely heavily on northern hydropower to stabilize grids and lower costs.

Trump says that Canada will become the 51^st state.

More than three-quarters of Canadians say Trump is “dangerous”.

“Now or never! Masters in our own house.”

“Canada has what the world wants,” concluded Carney. “And we will not allow any nation to determine our future. We will set our own course to keep building Canada strong for all.”

This is obviously an on-going story and there will be updates.

To all our American friends, Canadians are sorry it has come to this.

Keep your stick on the ice, and we will see you after someone calls ‘time’ on Trump.

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In the coming weeks we will look at WHAT IF THE PRESIDENT IS AN IDIOT – Trump, power and the death of serious politics – How a reality show became a presidency.

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