Since Saturday, Prime Minister Mark Carney has said the trade deal on offer from the United States was a bad one. I’ve spoken to enough people near and around the deal, enough government officials of various stripes to believe it was.
Simply based on the push by the Americans to say that medium and heavy-duty trucks would face a baked-in 25% tariff, the deal was unacceptable. While American officials say it was Canadians who asked for last minute changes and the Canadian side blames the Americans, Trump tell CNN’s Jim Sciutto in a phone call that calling for last minute changes sounds like him.
The government says there are more reasons the deal was a bad one, they should tell us about them as Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has been saying.
Poilievre made that point this morning while calling for a new economic action plan from the Carney government while standing in Windsor with Detroit in the background.
If you are watching the video, the English portion starts at around the 10 minute mark.
“Canadians must stand united. United in putting our country first. United for our workers, our consumers, our families. We must stand united in condemning the unjustified tariffs by President Trump,” Poilievre said.
“And we must be stand united for the many people who are now afraid for their jobs and their livelihoods. I’ve spent the last two days here at ground zero of the trade dispute right here in Windsor, Ontario. The industrial backbone of our country.”
While there, Poilievre called for the Carney government to scrap all gas taxes until July 1 next year, remove the GST from Canadian made vehicles, end the industrial carbon tax, repeal Bill C-69 and other anti-development laws, adopt his policy of no capital gains tax on money reinvested in Canada, and green light hundreds of projects awaiting federal approval.
Some of these are policies he ran on in the last election. All of them would help boost Canada’s economy and Poilievre is essentially calling on the Carney government to steal his policies.
Higher prices and defending sovereignty while denying it in a land acknowledgement…
The Carney government released their long list of items that will face tariffs of between 15-50%.
Lots of fish, appliances, make-up, clothing and more.
I was writing about this for the Toronto Sun today and included something that caught my ear. The Liberals said they were doing this to protect Canada’s sovereignty and yet, they opened with a land acknowledgement gave away all the land they claim to be protecting.
Read the column for the details.
Will a trade war with Canada hurt Republicans in key Senate races…
For months the accepted wisdom was that Democrats would win in both the House and the Senate and take Congress away from the Republicans. The Carney Liberals were sure that waiting Trump out until after the midterms was the best strategy.
The thinking was that if Trump lost both houses in Congress then he’d be weaker and forced into a better deal for Canada. I never thought it was a good idea and still don’t, Section 232 tariffs on steel, aluminum, and autos are not subject to congressional or court approval - we shall see on the section 338 tariffs.
The accepted wisdom started to fall apart as Democrats elected crazy candidates in Maine and Michigan in particular.
Now the trade war is pushing things back and Democrats could win again.
Watching Fox News right now as Bret Baier asks the panel on Special Report about what is happening with Canada. All three members, including two Republicans, one of them Trey Gowdy, the former House member from South Carolina backed Canada in some way.
Gowdy said it was a bad idea to have a trade war with Canada as Senate races are up for grabs in Maine, Michigan and Wisconsin
“I wonder if it will be resolved before the Senate races, because we don’t Maine, if you are a Republican, adversely impacted between now and November,” Gowdy said.
The latest from Real Clear Polling in Maine has Troy Jackson, the Democrat, ahead of Susan Collins the longtime Republican incumbent by 2.3% including a lead in a Fox News poll.
In Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed, a Democratic Socialist is narrowly edging out Republican Mike Rogers and Wisconsin is considered a toss-up.
A round-up of the crazy…
Did a video round-up of all the craziness for the Toronto Sun today.
No!
Where is Con Carney’s Transparency he speaks of so justifiably?! He lied about US not wanting French on Goods. He has made deals with CCP China in Trade deals. Throwing Canada into economic turmoil. His WEF Globalist Agenda to wipe out Western Countries with his Communist Values along side The City of London. Filling his pockets Brooksfield every country he visits. Ask yourself why does he and his family live in the US and holds 97% of his investments in the USA. He knows exactly what is in his Blind Trust. He has no interest in Canada or Canadians. Using you for his own Political and Financial gain. You are being used and fleeced.
Yes they have. Failed as Trump is trying to STOP CCP China from walking into Canada with full on Trades with Carney. To which he has negotiated with before hand. It will be the back door into N America for Full On Communism. #2 its about both by-elections to get the far left Dem/Lib’s to stay in power for the CCP New World Oder WEF & City of London. WAKE UP!
I’m astonished by the almost unanimous agreement among journalists that the deal was a bad one for Canada. The fact is we don’t know and won’t know until the details are released, which is unlikely to happen here. The liberals are not very transparent at the best of times and they had major political incentives to have the deal fail. It may in fact be that the deal was the best we can get and that overall it would have been of benefit to most of the country. We may never know and no one is pressing Carney to come clean.
I’m also astonished by the widespread perception that the US is unfairly targeting Canada and that we deserve a tariff free deal. The complete failure to see that the US has adopted a new position on trade that has impacted all of its trading relationships (and will continue to do so no matter which party is in power - they need the revenue to offset their deficits) speaks to an embarrassingly inflated opinion amongst the population of Canadas place in the OECD and a failure to understand the world outside of the lens of CNN and CBC.
Finally, I’m astonished by the glee with which the political class and the general public have greeted the counter tariffs. This can only reflect a complete ignorance as to who they negatively impact - Canadian businesses and consumers - and how little they will hurt the US. That said, it also reflects the willingness of the politicians and population to spend, spend, spend and to be fine with more and more people and companies on the government dole.