Posted on 02/03/2025 4:33:25 AM PST by MtnClimber
To Canada and Mexico regarding the tariffs: resistance is futile.
The leaders of Canada and Mexico are indignant because Trump slammed 25 percent tariffs onto their exports. In this dispute, most of the world will side with Canada and Mexico, and Trump will be viewed as mean, erratic and even racist. It is likely that Democrats will also blast Trump, but that will be a mistake -- for Democrats.
For years, the nation has talked about massive numbers of fentanyl deaths, yet there has been little or no relief. Trump is taking the only action that is likely to alleviate the problem in a significant way.
On this issue, the resistance offered by Canada and Mexico has been disgraceful. President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico put the blame entirely on the United States, and promised her own 25 percent retaliatory tariffs.
Sheinbaum arrogantly declared that Americans can solve the fentanyl problem by combating “the sale of narcotics on the streets of their main cities, which they don’t do.” In an ideal world, that might be a solution. However, our “main cities” are run by Democrat mayors and district attorneys, and they don’t care much about crime unless it can be pinned onto someone in MAGA world. To solve the illegal migrant and drug problem, we need more cooperation from Mexico, as Sheinbaum should know.
The response of Canada’s prime minister is just as inadequate. Justin Trudeau indicated that Canada will issue its own 25 percent tariffs, targeted towards certain U.S. products. He then tried to sweet-talk Americans by claiming that the border and drug problems are not very significant (“...already safe and secure”), and that Canada has implemented a major plan to remedy the minor problem. Let’s examine Trudeau’s big plan.
Trudeau claimed that Canada has “launched a $1.3 billion border
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
These leftist leaders are working against us. How do you get them to stop short of war?
Trade war it is.
Then target cartel assets & leadership.
Hit them in the pocketbook.
Even though the simpletons are emoting big time over this, I have the idea that in the long run, Trump is going to come out of this looking a lot better. He’s already made an offer to Panama that they could not refuse.
Trump’s tariffs on Canada likely aim to secure trade concessions, better terms for U.S. exports, or agreements on energy and manufacturing. Without clear demands, the tariffs seem to be a negotiation tool rather than a permanent policy.
Key trade disputes include dairy and softwood lumber. Canada’s supply management system imposes high tariffs (often over 200%) on dairy imports, limiting U.S. access. The U.S. argues this inflates prices and restricts competition.
In softwood lumber, Canada is accused of subsidizing its industry by allowing below-market harvesting on government land. This undercuts U.S. producers, prompting U.S. tariffs, while Canada insists its pricing is fair and legal.
I don’t eat avocados and my car only has about 40,000 miles on it. Hit ‘em hard President Trump. After all, it wouldn’t be that difficult for them to actually check who is coming into their country and/or stop the endless flow of fentanyl components coming in from China.
Mexican peso and the Canadian dollar are both crashing. For Americans the tariffs won’t be significant because they are paid for by the stronger dollar
” the tariffs seem to be a negotiation tool rather than a permanent policy.”
I said this same thing on a few other threads. The tariffs are a lever, once things move in Trump’s direction, they’ll be removed.
Dear Mexico and Canada,
Just stop the flow of fentanyl and illegal aliens and the pain will be reduced.
Thx for that. I’ll do some digging to see what I can find out.
I think we could close the borders completely. There would be a lot of streaming from United States citizens but the biggest pain would be for Mexico and Canada. I think it would be over in a week and they’d be on their knees.
It’s the same with Mexico farm products. I can’t say that they are subsidized but they don’t have to follow all the regulations that American farmers follow and they have very cheap labor.
I’ve read (somewhere) that Canada and Mexico import Chinese products, relabel them as their own, and ship them to the U.S. as Mexican and Canadian products. This should not stand....
If true what a pity.
Leave the tariffs in place. they raise revenue and promote domestic industry. WIN-WIN.
We have had a duty/quota on Canadian Softwood lumber for over 30 years. The current duty is 14% on average.
This has been negotiated multiple times over the last thirty years. Starting around 6% and eventually the 14%.
As a lumber broker for almost 40 years I can tell you from experience that different regions of our country prefer to purchase different species of lumber. In almost all regions that mix is a blend of Canadian, US, European and even South American lumber. The closer your location to the US/Canada border the heavier that percentage is to Canadian.
The closer to a southeastern port the more likely to buy European Spruce lumber. The west coast and Pacific NW is heavier to US Douglas Fir and Canadian DF.
However, Southern Yellow Pine is by far the dominate species used for pressure treating, truss manufacturing and other uses where strength is required.
For general framing like wall studs the other species like SPF(Spruce, pine, fir) Douglas Fir and Hem fir are more desired.
Also, a major factor is that SYP lumber is the least expensive species to produce in the world. SYP trees can be grown to a harvest size in 30-40 years. Which is significantly less than other northern species.
SYP is also manufactured typically in NON UNION right to work states like AR, TX, MS, LA, AL, GA, NC, SC & VA.
Mills in WA & OR have not only a higher log cost but a higher manufacturing cost.
Due to all these factors all the large corporations like West Fraser, Canfor, Interfor, Weyerhaeuser, Binderholtz, JD Irving, Tolko, Idaho Forest Group, Teal Jones Group, etc have all either built or purchased existing US SYP mills or Maine sawmills in the last fifteen years. They know IF they want to stay in the lumber business that the cheapest fiber in the world is in AL, MS, LA & AR.
In a trade war with the USA, Canada and Mexico would be the little guys who are easy to subdue. But Trump has been talking about expanding his trade war to virtually the whole industriized world — China, India, the EU, and possibly others who would jump in on the other side if given the chsnce to humble the USA. These are opponents who can inflict a lot of pain on our swing voters if we push them into it.
Good information. Thx.
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