Trump slaps insane 25% tariffs on Mexico, Canada, China

[Ishanga]

Economically I think Canada becoming a part of the USA would be beneficial over all, even if just our dollar become American Dollars we would benefit greatly, and the trade and Us Becoming a part of the economy of the USA would make this region a super super power, with our resources combined with the USA that would make all of Us in North America almost Invincible Economically and National Security wise I think..

I'm not identified with Canada, its a Great Country no doubt, but all Countries for the most part have their Greatness, my generation maybe is the last one to have any sort of strong identification with Canada, my Dad's did big time, he was in WW2 and fought and was a proud Canadian, since being involved in Spiritual Matters, I've dropped most identifications at least lowered them, and in my POV overall the benefits out way the disadvantages (which I don't really see) in regards to joining the Union in the States, especially too if we could live and work their without Green Cards required and such perks!!

From what I am hearing here on the media, Trump want to do something big this time to cement his legacy, and that is he wants to add land mass to the USA, so acquiring Canada (since we are one of the largest Countries land mass wise) would fulfill that desire he has, and he is going to do it via Economically making it hard for Canada to stay afloat, with all this uncertainty investors will not invest in Canada and we have our own trading problems btwn provinces that doesn't allow us to be self sufficient and our politics is messed up right now...

[zazen]

A interesting comment from a Canadian - the boycotting of US products itself would be impactful. Trumps under the illusion that US can just create everything itself and be self sufficient - of the major imports from Canada potash would be the hardest to get elsewhere at cost and is used as fertilizer for US agriculture.

US oil refineries are configured to process  Canadian crude. Re-configuring them would be a 5-10 year process and huge investment. Same with lumbar which is used for housing - to get the same quality and quantity with the environmental protections in place is another 5-10 year process.

 

Pretty ballsy to go after something that will cause inflation in two essentials such as housing and food. Energy, in this case oil, basically seeps into the cost of everything.

When it comes to Trump it’s best to go by the heuristic : take him seriously but never at his word. Anything he says may just be and often is just a bargaining tactic for other goals. Other than that, he simply wants to reframe the status quo as a win for his own ego, or to posture American strength to the world. This is why the whole game of calling upon troops with Canada and Mexico which had already been agreed upon.

Even with Panama, the whole rhetoric of China controlling it is utter nonsense. They simply operate there as any other country can. Imagine crying about international commerce - what a sign of weakness dressing up as strength. It’s like complaining that the kid who opened  a hot dog stand on your street is gonna steal your kitchen. With Greenland too, as if the US can’t operate there when Denmark is the most on team loyal partner to the US. They can simply just ask if they want to do something..lol

I think in the macro the US empire wants to consolidate control of its hemisphere as it’s lost control of much of the world. This usually happens with empires - they rise on protectionism, liberalise into laissez-fare free trade at their peak, then defensively become more protectionist in their decline against rising powers, by which time it’s too late to reverse the trend. Same thing happened with Britian.

The reason they want free trade at their peak is because they have developed enough productive capacity and are confident they can dominate the free market - so they want open markets to sell all their production to.

Edited February 5 by zazen

[Ishanga]

@zazen The above meme and what is said is Dangerous, on most all front we would lose any sort of war against the USA, you see this is what deep identification does, it blinds one to reality, this person is completely Identified with a man made line on a map, via that he thinks we can fight with the Americans, we can for a bit, deprive them of things they need, but in the end we will lose big time, so in the end joining the USA economically, would be a benefit for Us not a bad thing imo...Saying this as a Canadian...

[zazen]

@Ishanga True, shouldn’t be war mongering to that degree either. For most people they want to maintain their distinct  identity as a form of belonging. I think another part is that most people don’t really want to be associated with what America stands for vs what it says it does.

I was curious to hear JP’s thoughts on this, he just posted :

Gonna check it later.

[NewKidOnTheBlock]

41 minutes ago, zazen said:

@Ishanga True, shouldn’t be war mongering to that degree either. For most people they want to maintain their distinct  identity as a form of belonging. I think another part is that most people don’t really want to be associated with what America stands for vs what it says it does.

I was curious to hear JP’s thoughts on this, he just posted :

Gonna check it later.

Not sure about the other things he said, but I agree with him that Canada would be a complete pushover without US protecting it, as if it was their own country almost. Canada also doesn't really have any homogenous national identity, similiar to US. In a way, if we're being real, what is it that really separates them from each other? They were both british colonies, except that Britain held Canadian territory for a little bit longer than it held America (slash Thirteen Colonies). Is that really enough for a solid national identity to develop? Canada on it's own seems weak and vulnerable. While US doesn't have that same problem

[Salvijus]

I didn't know US and Canada are seperate countries until maybe few years ago. 

[integral]

@NewKidOnTheBlock if the US absorbed Canada and Mexico the only thing it would accomplish is that the US will take the whole continent down with the ship. 

[NewKidOnTheBlock]

1 hour ago, integral said:

@NewKidOnTheBlock if the US absorbed Canada and Mexico the only thing it would accomplish is that the US will take the whole continent down with the ship. 

I did not say about anyone absorbing anything, just highlighted something that should be obvious to us all - that there are practically no differences between Canada and USA. And that Canada is essentially US protectorate.

Mexico is a bit of a different thing but there, the language and cultural differences are significant. And you could argue some of the Mezo American/South American states were build on former, real, pre existing tribal ethnics, for example Mexico was build on the ruins of Aztecs and Mayans, modern day Peru looks suspiciously similiar to the way Inca empire looked, etc.

[Ishanga]

The media here is eating this stuff up, and the Politicians (even though deep down I think they think it would be a good idea, they don't dare say that because of the elections coming up), are playing up the drama too, with this Tariff threat what is being promoted is pro Canada rhetoric, buy Canadian goods and services, and rive Canadian pride, but in the end if You really look at it without these filters of Identity, we are pretty dependent on the Americans.. Now they want to try to diversify our economy and try to not be so reliant on just one customer the USA, but this will take a long long time to accomplish maybe a whole generation or two of time, as our greatest assets are our natural resources and to get them to other markets besides USA is going to take allot of money and time to build the infrastructure, or they could just drop the identity and go with the Americans and life will be instantly settled and better overall imo... 

There's no real difference between Us and the Americans, I grew up on American TV and Movies and Heroes lol, we may seem more polite but just go to to a local hockey game and it will be seen how unpolite we can be, plus we drink like a sun of a bitch and everyone here likes to fight or get into trouble, Toronto is overrun will crime and organized Crime, it just the America has been at it longer than Us, we are a few years behind in that regard..We fought in the same wars and had the same sort of struggles, as when America struggles so do we, so we might as well become one Country!!!

[PurpleTree]

Donald Trump is really bringing the world closer together.

 

 

 

To unite against his shenanigans.

[Elliott]

https://www.firstpost.com/world/trump-tariffs-wont-go-unanswered-says-eu-as-it-prepares-firm-and-proportionate-retaliation-13862041.html

Quote

 

EU vows 'firm and proportionate' retaliatory measures ... - Firstpost

5 hours ago · European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned that the EU will respond with “firm and proportionate countermeasures” to US tariffs on steel and aluminum imposed by President Donald Trump. With Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz vowing a united 

 

He does more to hurt his own presidency than anyone else. The economic fallout should help the environment for long after he's gone, if anyone wants a bright side take.