Canada - USA Trade War commencing March 2025 #2

[Vern]

He's thoroughly distrustful of his Vice President, so he will never back down out of the office. If anything, he would try to appoint one of his children to the job, with Elon at their side.

Like a true dictator, he does not trust anyone below him at all. He learned his lesson with former VP Mike Pence. He learned that there may be a line the VP will not cross in their loyalty, so they can never be trusted.

Hmmmm, interesting thoughts on appointing/annointing one of his children to take over.

I wonder who he would choose??

Don Jr;
Eric; or
Ivanka ??

 

[Vern]

domestic terrorism, really? why, because the cars involved are Musk??? what if the vehicles were general motors or Stellantis? I could not disagree more----I am so disgusted with the state of our government, which is being dismantled at an alarming rate- and let me say clearly no president prior to Trump has trampled over our government the way Trump is-- you may not like some things Obama did or Biden but they never ever ever took us on the path to authoritarian rule, which is what is happening now. No president prior to Trump has thumbed their nose at the judiciary and threatened to impeach a federal judge because they didn't like a ruling!!!!

Domestic Terrorism not as related to those simply marching, holding up signs and shouting 'down with Musk' et al. Those individuals are simply exercising their legal right to peacefully gather and protest. I 10 000% support them and do not advocate for anyone 'locking them up'. They and their actions are one of the foundational bedrock building blocks of preserving democracy.

I'm referring to those committing clearly criminal acts under the guise of 'protest'.

- Arson of vehicles;
- Arson, grafitti and breaking windows of buildings (public or privately owned / business or residential or institutional);
- running down of protestors in vehicles;
- gunning down of protestors exercising their right to assemble and march;
- Charottesville with the "Jews will not replace us!!!" chants;
- surrounding Biden campaign bus and terrorizing it while travelling up higways in Texas putting people within that bus and others on the road at immediate risk of physical harm;
- sending vehicles full of MAGA accolites tothe home of two election workers and vowing to do physical harm to them in such a manner as they had to be put into protective custody;
etc etc

Those types should well indeed be charged, tried and locked up if convicted. I don't care who they vote for. I don't care 'in whose name' they protest. Law and order (the irony being that the Republicans used to count this as a value).

I'm tired of hearing accusations of Biden having 'weaponized' the DOJ simply because the Feds charged and prosecuted the domestic terrorists committing these acts while under federal jusrisdiction:

J6;
Breaking into and vandalism within the Capitol buildings;
Gallows and chants of "hang Mike Pence" while actively advocating for the overthrow of the government and
The advocating for the illegal disposal of the results of the Will of The People's votes in the election.

All the while, when those domestic terrorists are charged, they scream, 'but Hunter's laptop!!", "but Seattle", etc etc

El toro poo poo in my eyes. Seattle? That's a state problem. The two things are not the same. Those individuals burning and ovetaking State buidlngs should be hald to account too (and many were), but that is State jurisdication, not federal. The false equivelancies used by right wing to justify why 'they are being persecuted' is laughable IMO. Not of the same coin and far from the same side of the coin.

The issue now - is that it has now been INSTITUTIONALIZED as acceptable by the President of the United States of America as long as you happen to be on his side! Pardon 'our' guys who are domestic terrorists, while simultaneously rounding up and deporting, without any due process, many people who've never-so-much as been charged with a crime based only upon 'whatever' the demographic being targetted that day happens to be. Even people with proper visas and work permits. Just blanket mass deportations. No due process. Contrary to the Constitution. Who's next on the list? Political opponents? Religious based? Hair colour based? Note: If someone is on a visa etc and commits a crime, they would be fair game for investigation and removal if warranted. No nation just has to 'accept' those who would come to their nation and then commit criminal acts. When a certain nation began mass deportatiosn to an identifiable group in the 1930s without due process, without them having committed any crimes other than being of Jewish ancestry or a political opponent of you-know-who, or gay, or transgender, or of poor socio-economic status: it went NO WHERE GOOD. But it all sounds very familiar these days.

Those are the times the US is now living in. And, just like Hilter's supporters in 1930s Germany, Trump's supporters are AOK with it. Patriots and defenders democracy and of the Constitution they are not.

IMO.

-

 

[indicolite22]

He does watch TV a lot and he does not like criticism, but you are right- he sloughs the criticisms off... I do ask myself- "what is the end game?" He is 78 and unless the Constitution is changed, he is not supposed to run for Pres again. He still has to live in the country.... I think. If the country is miserable, he still has to live in it. Is the goal to just to amass $? In his first term, he was more likely to pivot- he pivots a lot but so far it does not seem to be because he wants to be popular.

IMO his end game is to have a golden statue of himself erected in Washington and his head chiseled into Mount Rushmore. His delusions of grandeur are off the scale. He thinks he's the greatest of the great.

 

[branmuffin]

Where was this?

Orillia

 

[Vern]

Orillia

Where 77% said 'yes'. I'm that old. And, I've popped by the casino there.

That's craziness. I know it's now considered a Toronto commuter town and rent/purchase prices for homes have sky-rocketed. My brother just got posted into the Military Fire Fighter Academy at the nearby Canadian Forces Base Borden last summer as the School Sergeant Major. He had to leave his family in Halifax as he couldn't afford to move (read: house) them there. He's living in single quarters on base. Crazy what's happening around GTA and Vancouver.

-

 

[otto]

Carney is finally addressing Western Canada concerns, but there's a contradictory message that requires clarification. Is he open-minded to options after speaking to the Alberta premier, or is he saying what he thinks people want to hear?

Pipelines across the country is a good idea, but will Quebec do what's best for Canada, or dig in their heels to obtain leverage and compensation?

"Carney said he wanted to make Canada's energy sector more competitive by "working with industry and with provinces on specific ways to get those reductions, as opposed to — and last point which goes to your question — as opposed to having preset caps or preset restrictions on preset timelines."

The prime minister didn't elaborate, but his comments appear to contradict the federal Environment Minister he appointed days ago, Terry Duguid. In a recent interview with The Canadian Press, Duguid said that, if elected, Carney would maintain the Liberals' proposed cap on emissions. "We want that energy. What we don't want is that pollution," Duguid said.
...

"The commitment is to deliver projects like those that we agreed are national priorities," Carney said. "It's about getting, yes, pipelines built across this country so that we can displace imports of foreign oil."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/carney-edmonton-smith-meeting-1.7489042

 

[Kemug]

This is an interesting article about Musk, and explains the origins of much of his extremism. It frames who he is and his intentions.

https://www.cbc.ca/newsinteractives/features/joshua-haldeman-elon-musk-saskatchewan-tech-utopian-conspiracist

Wow, there's the crazy gene!

 

[Trooper]

Hmmmm, interesting thoughts on appointing/annointing one of his children to take over.

I wonder who he would choose??

Don Jr;
Eric; or
Ivanka ??

He's just hanging on for grim death so that he can anoint Barron. Donny and Eric and Ivanka have all blotted their copybook, ripped off untold billions, time for the littlest twig to strut the stage.. Also, young Barron has a talent the others lack, he keeps his mouth shut, so far.

 

[Trooper]

US consumer tech joins winemakers, film studios and drug companies in urging Trump to target Australia

The Consumer Technology Association, which counts Sony, Microsoft, Dell, Adobe and Samsung among its members, lodged the submission

www.theguardian.com

(The sharks are circling, now. '''Australia has imported more goods from the US than it has exported every year since 1952, unlike countries like China and Mexico with whom the US has maintained large trade deficits.''' this, of course lays to rest once and for all of Trumps ridiculous whining about how America has been treated badly.. such a baldfaced lie. )

Seems like the winemakers, the intel chaps, the tech blokes, cattle farmers, and so on, of the USA are up on their hind legs, and want to enter the Arena of Whinge.. we can deal with them.

But it's these wretches , '''The push came after American drug companies used the trade review to criticise Australia’s Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), alleging the “egregious and discriminatory” pricing policies in countries in Australia were putting US jobs and exports at risk.'.. who will find that while Americans have been slugging at and slagging off Canada, with rather negative results, they will find that Canada will have been like picking a fight with Bambi, compared to an Australian who feels his PBS is threatened.. I

 

[Kemug]

"Not fair", "terrible", "horrible", "yuge", "nasty" - oh, the good old days. Yep, takes me back to my kindergarten teaching days.

 

[iamshadow21]

US consumer tech joins winemakers, film studios and drug companies in urging Trump to target Australia

The Consumer Technology Association, which counts Sony, Microsoft, Dell, Adobe and Samsung among its members, lodged the submission

www.theguardian.com

(The sharks are circling, now. '''Australia has imported more goods from the US than it has exported every year since 1952, unlike countries like China and Mexico with whom the US has maintained large trade deficits.''' this, of course lays to rest once and for all of Trumps ridiculous whining about how America has been treated badly.. such a baldfaced lie. )

Seems like the winemakers, the intel chaps, the tech blokes, cattle farmers, and so on, of the USA are up on their hind legs, and want to enter the Arena of Whinge.. we can deal with them.

But it's these wretches , '''The push came after American drug companies used the trade review to criticise Australia’s Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), alleging the “egregious and discriminatory” pricing policies in countries in Australia were putting US jobs and exports at risk.'.. who will find that while Americans have been slugging at and slagging off Canada, with rather negative results, they will find that Canada will have been like picking a fight with Bambi, compared to an Australian who feels his PBS is threatened.. I

They're also messing with our universities. Or trying to.

Australian university researchers told ‘woke gender ideology’ among reasons behind Trump funding cuts

Researchers receive memo notifying ‘temporary’ funding pause prompting push for Australian government to pursue European partnerships

www.theguardian.com

Trump administration asks Australian universities to justify US funding

The Australian government is seeking answers after universities were sent a questionnaire the tertiary education union is calling "blatant political interference".

www.abc.net.au

So universities are probably going to start looking for research funding elsewhere. Like Europe.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Australians don't take kindly to bullies.

 

[iamshadow21]

Australians don't take kindly to bullies.

Yeah, as has been said, we're mongrels. We're convicts. And we are the mean, yappy, slightly unhinged dog in a fight if you try to bully us.

MOO

 

[TootsieFootsie]

I should add that not only do Australians not take kindly to bullies, they also don't like it when their friends are bullied, ie Canada, Ukraine, etc.

 

[Vern]

Australians don't take kindly to bullies.

Canadians don't either and we've been bullied by them before and came out on top ... 1812.

I like the references to trade deficits.

Good thing Australia that you're not close enough, not a physical border neighbour, to have been nice enough to hook in rural USAnians into your Australian power grid to supply them at discounted rates for hydro power because they can't connect into the US grid. Lest that be held against you by POTUS as 'a deficit' when he figures out his money.

Good enough - cut them off their power. No more "more selling more into the US than they buy from us". Cut the power off and trade defficit magicly disappears. Problem solved. Well, solved for Canada, but not for the 1.5 million Americans being served by the Canadian grid who'll then be left in the cold out in the dark.

Meh; Trump's an idiot.

His advisors and the current Congress are cowards because they fear telling him, "look Sir, stop being an idiot".

So, we'll keep our elbows up and say bring it on. If we go down, it won't be quietly and it won't be on our knees or cowering. It'll be geurillaish. Guaranteed.

IMO.

-

 

[iamshadow21]

I should add that not only do Australians not take kindly to bullies, they also don't like it when their friends are bullied, ie Canada, Ukraine, etc.

Absolutely. We also hate blowhards, and will barrack for the other guy, because there isn't a much greater sin than being up yourself.

MOO

 

[Betty P]

US consumer tech joins winemakers, film studios and drug companies in urging Trump to target Australia

The Consumer Technology Association, which counts Sony, Microsoft, Dell, Adobe and Samsung among its members, lodged the submission

www.theguardian.com

(The sharks are circling, now. '''Australia has imported more goods from the US than it has exported every year since 1952, unlike countries like China and Mexico with whom the US has maintained large trade deficits.''' this, of course lays to rest once and for all of Trumps ridiculous whining about how America has been treated badly.. such a baldfaced lie. )

Seems like the winemakers, the intel chaps, the tech blokes, cattle farmers, and so on, of the USA are up on their hind legs, and want to enter the Arena of Whinge.. we can deal with them.

But it's these wretches , '''The push came after American drug companies used the trade review to criticise Australia’s Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), alleging the “egregious and discriminatory” pricing policies in countries in Australia were putting US jobs and exports at risk.'.. who will find that while Americans have been slugging at and slagging off Canada, with rather negative results, they will find that Canada will have been like picking a fight with Bambi, compared to an Australian who feels his PBS is threatened.. I

Trump and all the Republicans really hate those great health care systems in Australia, Canada and Europe. The US needs to join them. CMS already provides half of the health care coverage for the US at a small fraction of the cost of insurance companies and pharma.

 

[Trooper]

Hot tamale,, AU just dropped out of the top 10 happiest countries... that's the bad news, the good news is, we are still happier than NZers!! not by much, though,, but... Canada still much happier than the USA, naturally.

Here was an odd statistic, on American unhappiness.. a solid indicator apparently.. ......

'
Last year, the United States came in at number 23. For 2025, the U.S. has dropped yet again, now ranking 24th. The decline is largely attributed to younger generations, who are reporting lower levels of happiness than ever before.

There are a number of issues at play, including eating alone. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that in 2023, 1 in 4 Americans ate all of their meals alone (!) the previous day—an increase of 53% since 2003. “Dining alone has become more prevalent for every age group, but especially for young people,” wrote the authors of the report.

The 20 Happiest Countries In The World For 2025, According To A New Report

For the eighth year in a row, Finland has been named the happiest country in the world, while the United States hits a new low.

www.forbes.com

 

[SouthAussie]

I was thinking today, while shopping, that I wouldn't mind the US jamming a tariff on our beef. Then maybe more beef would stay in the country and our retail beef price might come down a bit.

And sometimes (seems often) the beef section of our supermarket meat depts are not exactly laden with beef quantities and choices either.

I sometimes wonder if our export commitments affect what is on our domestic shelves - particularly if there is any kind of shortage or under-production going on for whatever reason.

imo

 

[ilovewings]

Domestic Terrorism not as related to those simply marching, holding up signs and shouting 'down with Musk' et al. Those individuals are simply exercising their legal right to peacefully gather and protest. I 10 000% support them and do not advocate for anyone 'locking them up'. They and their actions are one of the foundational bedrock building blocks of preserving democracy.

I'm referring to those committing clearly criminal acts under the guise of 'protest'.

- Arson of vehicles;
- Arson, grafitti and breaking windows of buildings (public or privately owned / business or residential or institutional);
- running down of protestors in vehicles;
- gunning down of protestors exercising their right to assemble and march;
- Charottesville with the "Jews will not replace us!!!" chants;
- surrounding Biden campaign bus and terrorizing it while travelling up higways in Texas putting people within that bus and others on the road at immediate risk of physical harm;
- sending vehicles full of MAGA accolites tothe home of two election workers and vowing to do physical harm to them in such a manner as they had to be put into protective custody;
etc etc

Those types should well indeed be charged, tried and locked up if convicted. I don't care who they vote for. I don't care 'in whose name' they protest. Law and order (the irony being that the Republicans used to count this as a value).

I'm tired of hearing accusations of Biden having 'weaponized' the DOJ simply because the Feds charged and prosecuted the domestic terrorists committing these acts while under federal jusrisdiction:

J6;
Breaking into and vandalism within the Capitol buildings;
Gallows and chants of "hang Mike Pence" while actively advocating for the overthrow of the government and
The advocating for the illegal disposal of the results of the Will of The People's votes in the election.

All the while, when those domestic terrorists are charged, they scream, 'but Hunter's laptop!!", "but Seattle", etc etc

El toro poo poo in my eyes. Seattle? That's a state problem. The two things are not the same. Those individuals burning and ovetaking State buidlngs should be hald to account too (and many were), but that is State jurisdication, not federal. The false equivelancies used by right wing to justify why 'they are being persecuted' is laughable IMO. Not of the same coin and far from the same side of the coin.

The issue now - is that it has now been INSTITUTIONALIZED as acceptable by the President of the United States of America as long as you happen to be on his side! Pardon 'our' guys who are domestic terrorists, while simultaneously rounding up and deporting, without any due process, many people who've never-so-much as been charged with a crime based only upon 'whatever' the demographic being targetted that day happens to be. Even people with proper visas and work permits. Just blanket mass deportations. No due process. Contrary to the Constitution. Who's next on the list? Political opponents? Religious based? Hair colour based? Note: If someone is on a visa etc and commits a crime, they would be fair game for investigation and removal if warranted. No nation just has to 'accept' those who would come to their nation and then commit criminal acts. When a certain nation began mass deportatiosn to an identifiable group in the 1930s without due process, without them having committed any crimes other than being of Jewish ancestry or a political opponent of you-know-who, or gay, or transgender, or of poor socio-economic status: it went NO WHERE GOOD. But it all sounds very familiar these days.

Those are the times the US is now living in. And, just like Hilter's supporters in 1930s Germany, Trump's supporters are AOK with it. Patriots and defenders democracy and of the Constitution they are not.

IMO.

-

I hear ya!!! I hate to say it but as you point out there are some similarities to Germany in the 1930s and it is very very frightening---