Happy Tariff day Canada

Today is the day that Trumps tariffs are supposed to be imposed on Canada.  If you ask the average Canadian about this they will immediately blame Donald Trump.  The average low information even lower brain function Canadian believes Donald Trump is a demon and the cause of every bad thing that has ever happened to them.  They are livid that Donald Trump is breaking our existing free trade deal.  If Donald Trump was actually breaking a free trade deal I would also be upset but the truth is Trump is not doing that.

The reality is while we have deals with the US that have free trade in the title we have never had free trade with the US.  The original Canada US free trade deal signed by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney was really a selective trade deal that still had carve outs for protected Canadian industries like auto manufacturing and dairy.  Those carve outs survived as the deal became the North American free trade deal (NAFTA) and then the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).  Our trade with the US has never been entirely free and the exceptions were always in Canada’s favor.

The US has long treated Canada as the irresponsible little brother that they extend a helping hand to in the hope that one day we will grow up and become responsible.  They gave us deal exemptions so that certain industries in central Canada never had to worry about being competitive.  At the time I am sure the US saw these exemptions as inconsequential.  They probably still do.  The difference now is that Donald trump has grown tired of waiting for Canada to grow up.  He doesn’t see why Canada should receive preferential treatment.

Lutnick revealed that his own long-term preference is for broad tariffs on entire countries to punish unfair trade practices, rather than narrow tariffs against specific products.

For the first time Canada has to deal with a little tough love from our American big brother and Canadians don’t like it.  Canadians have become so accustomed to the preferential treatment that they have come to expect it.  The Fat idiot who runs our largest province is adamant that no matter who runs Canada the preferential treatment his province receives must never change.

Doug Ford is taking a veiled shot at federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, saying whoever is the next prime minister must continue Canada’s supports for the auto industry — particularly in electric vehicles.

Doug Ford is too stupid to understand that Canada has absolutely no control over this.  It does not matter who the Canadian Prime Minister is.  Canada cannot force the Americans to continue to give us preferential treatment.  That choice has always been up to the Americans and they no longer choose to give us preferential treatment without getting something in return.  What they want is that we stop allowing criminals and terrorists to use Canada as a back door into the US.

Canadian politicians and Canadians in general object to this.  They like to claim Trump is delusional and making up a threat that does not exist.  But the threat is real and our government has known it for a very long time.  25 years ago Canadian politicians were warned that China was using Canadian ports to smuggle drugs into North America.

“We are, for example, aware of serious concerns amongst the international law enforcement community surrounding the ownership of ports and container industries in Asia and, in particular, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the People’s Republic of China. There is simply no longer any doubt that drugs like heroin are coming from these destinations through the Port of Vancouver, moved by organized criminal gangs whose assets include ‘legitimate’ properties.”

So for more than a quarter century Canada has allowed America’s largest geopolitical enemy to move drugs through Canada without doing anything about it.  It was only a matter of time before the US lost patience with us and that time has come.  Trump warned us months ago.  That is not long enough for us to fix the problem but certainly long enough for us to come up with a plan.  But, Ottawa chose not to.  Instead they spent their time planning how we would hit back.

Ottawa has planned retaliatory tariffs that are so popular with brain dead Canadian voters that even Pierre Poilievre is now on board.  So instead of getting serious on crime, which would also benefit Canadians, we have chosen a trade war with the world’s second largest economy. When presented with the option of win/win or lose/lose, Canada never fails to choose lose/lose.

This is an unnecessary fight that Canada cannot win.  The problem is that Canadians think we can win.  Canadians are quick to point out that we export some things to the US that they need.  If we were to cut them off it would hurt the American economy.  That is true, in the short term; loss of these products will hurt the US.  In the long term however it will only hurt Canada.  The United States has a couple of things that Canada does not.  They have great infrastructure for importing and exporting goods.  They also have a better regulatory environment for building new infrastructure.  The US will just find other suppliers and adapt.  The same is not true of Canada.  When we lose these American markets they will be gone for good and our ability to move goods to other markets is limited.

The Canadian government has opted to forever hobble the Canadian economy because they believe we can bully Donald Trump into submission.  We are governed by children, remarkably unintelligent children. The Canadian public is also behaving like spoiled brats.  We think we can demand preferential treatment from the US.  Canadians need to grow up.