US relations to "allies” others and global institutions

[PurpleTree]

Tariffs on its neighbours Canada and Mexico

 

US attacking the International Criminal Court

“The US house speaker, Mike Johnson, has said the US should 'punish the ICC and put Karim Khan back in his place' after the ICC chief prosecutor put out a request for arrest warrants for Israel's leaders over the way its army has conducted its war in Gaza“

 

Threatening Panama Canal, Greenland, EU, Colombia etc. 

 

[PurpleTree]

The US next big thing seems to be this competition with China.

So the US isolating itself and bullying its “allies” seems like the dumbest thing to do.

[PurpleTree]

 

[PurpleTree]

China moving a lot of factories to other asian countries, materials still come from China.

To evade tariffs and decoupling of supply chains.

 

[PurpleTree]

History of the US trying to snatch Greenland

[PurpleTree]

 

[PurpleTree]

 

[zazen]

Tit for tat now
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/01/trump-tariffs-canada-mexico-china

“The leaders of Canada and Mexico have hit back after Donald Trump signed an order authorizing drastic tariffs of up to 25% on their exports to the US, while China said it would complain to the World Trade Organization after it was also targeted by the president.

Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, on Saturday night made a televised address announcing concrete measures including a tit-for-tat 25% tariff phased in across C$155bn ($107bn) worth of American products. Trudeau said Trump had put at risk US consumers’ and industries’ access to much-needed Canadian critical minerals and resources including oil, energy and timber. The prime minister promised to work with Canada’s provinces to review dealings with the United States.”

[zazen]

There is something to be said about this possibly helping US re-industrialise over the longer term - but it’s not a guarantee and it does cause short term pain via inflation. Not to mention a damaged relationship with its neighbours.

This is a interesting short vid on it:

By the time all this happens even at best estimates of 3-5 years - wouldn’t the rapid advancements of AI which the US also want to speed run, end up swallowing the jobs they hope re-industrialising would have created? 
 

Many variables at play which makes it hard to predict outcomes. 80% of avocados come from Mexico - so for sure that guac gonna be extra lol
 

[PurpleTree]

 

[sholomar]

Watching the clown show that is geopolitics without being concerned about outcomes truly is fascinating at the very least. Seeing the leaders do their leader things, watching human nature play itself out on the global stage, as the actors play their parts. Human behavior is fascinating, and somewhat predictable.

[eos_nyxia]

Trudeau's speech:

FYI, Canadians are pretty much universally on board with this.

I'm optimistic about Canada's long-term prospects, and I think we're in the process of being snapped out of our own lethargy and complicity when it comes to our dependence on the US. Many of us are already in the process of weaning ourselves off American megacorps and products (e.g. Amazon) in response to this. Ironically, Trump might be doing much more for Canadian unity and strengthening our identity and sense of collective purpose.

I'm not so optimistic for you all in the US of A, particularly for the common person without wealth. You guys have your own gauntlet ahead of you, and must somehow decide for yourselves, both individually and collectively, despite the shellshock...

At its heart, this isn't just a trade war about the exchange of currency and natural resources. This is also a war of cultures and values.

Edited February 2 by eos_nyxia

[eos_nyxia]

This is like watching a game of Civ where that one leader starts acting unhinged in diplomacy, lol

[PurpleTree]

44 minutes ago, eos_nyxia said:

Trudeau's speech:

FYI, Canadians are pretty much universally on board with this.

I'm optimistic about Canada's long-term prospects, and I think we're in the process of being snapped out of our own lethargy and complicity when it comes to our dependence on the US. Many of us are already in the process of weaning ourselves off American megacorps and products (e.g. Amazon) in response to this. Ironically, Trump might be doing much more for Canadian unity and strengthening our identity and sense of collective purpose.

I'm not so optimistic for you all in the US of A, particularly for the common person without wealth. You guys have your own gauntlet ahead of you, and must somehow decide for yourselves, both individually and collectively, despite the shellshock...

At its heart, this isn't just a trade war about the exchange of currency and natural resources. This is also a war of cultures and values.

I think the Republicans are trying to bully Canada into becoming the 51st state in the longer term.

[eos_nyxia]

5 minutes ago, PurpleTree said:

I think the Republicans are trying to bully Canada into becoming the 51st state in the longer term.

Just because historically we're "polite", tend to be fatalistic, and have gone along with them and supported them in the past (including supporting their stupid wars), this doesn't mean that we're going to keep bending over. This is likely the permanent breaking point for us.  Like... even conservatives have turned against Trump here, though maybe there's a few braindead bottom feeders left.

Even just the idea of us all being one state, lol. Spoken like someone who understands nothing about Canada and doesn't want to know anything.

At least split it up, WTF?? Have fun with the riots, lol.

[PurpleTree]

1 minute ago, eos_nyxia said:

Just because historically we're "polite", tend to be fatalistic, and have gone along with them and supported them in the past (including supporting their stupid wars), this doesn't mean that we're going to keep bending over. This is likely the permanent breaking point for us.  Like... even conservatives have turned against Trump here, though maybe there's a few braindead bottom feeders left.

Even just the idea of us all being one state, lol. Spoken like someone who understands nothing about Canada and doesn't want to know anything.

At least split it up, WTF?? Have fun with the riots, lol.

Gosh 

When will humanity grow up. 2025 and we’re still toddlers.

[eos_nyxia]

16 minutes ago, PurpleTree said:

Gosh 

When will humanity grow up. 2025 and we’re still toddlers.

What I find disappointing is that people STILL need to find a common enemy to unite against, or else we tend to find yet another reason to fragment amongst ourselves.

[PurpleTree]

Trump about tariffs on the EU/Europe

He always says "they don’t buy our cars, they don’t buy our stuff”

But imo actually a lot of Teslas are sold in Europe. A lot of apple products. Microsoft. Whatsapp, google, android.

Then a lot of Mc donalds in Europe, Nike and so on.

Then a lot of US weapons, F16, F35 etc.

[PurpleTree]

 

[PurpleTree]

I might wear my raptors jersey today in solidarity with Canada hehe 🇨🇦