39 Comments

Interesting pushback from Mexico's president on the proposed tariffs: “Seventy percent of the illegal weapons seized from criminals in Mexico come from your country. We do not produce these weapons, nor do we consume synthetic drugs. Tragically, it is in our country that lives are lost to the violence resulting from meeting the drug demand in yours.”

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The whole contenent would be safer if the Americans put the same energy into fighting gun violence as they do their fear of transgenders.

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I wish our government would say fuck around and find out. But they won't and I know that. And it's not politically advisable. I get it. But just once......

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Maybe tRump would be interested in seeing what would happen to the US economy if the Welland Ship Canal suddenly became inaccessible to American based ships?!

I think that might wake up the MAGA idiots who voted to elect this fucking moron!

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Wow! I never thought of that one. It’s the equivalent to a nuclear weapon, though. Trump might move from economics to actual force…. And we’re in no shape to deal with that.

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Maybe they’ll reopen the Erie Canal

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I doubt he'd use force, but he can certainly make our lives miserable one way or another. The key would be to present a common resistance front with the EU and other allies.

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I was being facetious, of course.

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Black Cloud you never know with that guy!

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For that matter, the whole St-Lawrence river is in Canada starting in Cornwall, ON. Just sayin'..

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There's that little ditch in Panama, too, if the shit flies that way. But Donnie has no more understanding of geography than of history.

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I believe the only reason Trump sent out these posts was to distract the media from Biden's successes - ceasefire between Hezbollah/Israel, release of Americans imprisoned in China, etc. We already have forgotten how totally unserious he is, how he doesn't understand or care about policy or nuance or future issues, and he only wants attention RIGHT NOW! Then, of course, when his errors are pointed out, he doubles down to insist that he really did know what he was talking about and Attention Must Be Paid!

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100% Cathie. I just saw today the results of Biden's latest talented geopolitical success. And, we can count on corporate media to completely ignore it.

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Could this be a reaction to not getting the Senate leader he wanted, losing Gaetz, and the likelihood of losing Kennedy, Gabbard and Hegseth.

Maybe he felt he needed to flex to show his people he's still the tough guy.

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I think the endgame is transparent: to use tariffs as a revenue stream to replace lost revenue from Trump's forthcoming tax cuts. Even if we tigten the border, increase defence spending, and bust up the fentanyl factories, Trump will find another excuse for tariffs.

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And my dad wonders why I, a dual citizen living in Canada, give a damn about who the POTUS is. 🤦‍♀️

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Can we sue Fox News for spreading false lies about Canada?

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I suspect tariffs on Canadian imports could be tied to Canada hitting its NATO spending target. Hit the 2%, tariffs disappear…

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No, I don’t think so. He’s a bully that is bullying just to push us around because it’s red meat to his base. He’s an isolationist that doesn’t give a damn about NATO or anyone else. The target - if he’s even aware of it - means nothing to him.

We need to meet the target because it’s in our interest to do so, not because we’re blackmailed.

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Trump knows very well how tariffs work. His use of them is part of his authoritarian challenge to truth. It’s in the dictatorial playbook. Water is not wet. It’s also a form of blackmail of Canada. Capitulation will only increase his demands. Canada could do everything to secure the border; Trump Will only invent a new threat.

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Canada and Mexico are the USA's closest neighbours, but Trump seems determined to alienate them.

Fortunately, we here in Australia don't actually do much trade with the USA so, like most of the world, we can basically bypass the USA and focus on Asia.

Note that China has just funded a huge port in Peru so it can trade directly with South America without going through the USA.

The EU will also increasingly go it alone without the USA.

As the USA turns inwards, it's economy will stagnate.

Canada should take a tough line against Trump.

Malignant narcissists like Trump regard compromise as weakness and only respect strength.

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Breaking down average Americans will prevent them from fighting back.

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Please, please, do something.

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I would be delighted if I thought there was any chance the Canadian government was going to do any of those things

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As much as I detest Trump and find these tariffs incredibly destructive for both countries, there is a frustration in Washington with our lack of handling the fentanyl trade and allowing products produced by slave labour from Xinjiang into the continent. They might not have imposed a 25% tariff on all of our goods, but I believe the Biden Administration was getting frustrated with our lack of handling.

https://open.substack.com/pub/thebureau/p/oped-trump-sanctions-flag-a-harsh?r=224kqu&utm_medium=ios

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It doesn't lookike we're completely innocent, does it?

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I don’t regard this as a reliable source. Indeed, there’s a political axe to grind throughout the article.

*disgarded*

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Could be.

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Likely.

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In Ohio, Ashtabula County is literally a border county with southwest Ontario. People forget that since the border is out in Lake Erie. Trump’s tariff plans will wreck our port’s business quite badly considering the number of Canadian flagged vessels that visit it.

We can still pick up various FM radio stations in Ashtabula from across the lake in London, Ontario. Hammering the point about economic damage with my compatriots might help a bit. After all, if we didn’t have the lake we’d be sharing a land border.

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