It was a deadline that Donald Trump insisted Canada must respect. In the language of the gangster in the White House, an offer it couldn't refuse.
Canadians had until Friday to sign a new NAFTA deal dictated by himself, or there would be trouble.
But Team Canada stood its ground refusing to be intimidated. The deadline came and went.
And it was Trump who ended up being humiliated.
With Canada getting more time to try to improve the deal.
The Trump administration eased off its threat to exclude Canada from the North American Free Trade Agreement, extending talks that were set to end on Friday while warning that the Canadians must be “willing” to accept the United States’ terms.
Or reject it.
While the bestial bully had to suck it up, for good reasons.
Congress, which has ultimate authority over trade agreements, has warned the White House that any revised deal must include both Canada and Mexico. Canada is the major export destination for 36 American states, and many of the president’s political supporters insisted that he first “do no harm” to the deal. Without Canada, Republican lawmakers would be likely to scuttle any new Nafta pact, dealing Mr. Trump an embarrassing loss.
Reasons our team knew. and used against him.
But still the quivering orange blob of depravity doesn't get it. And now he's threatening Canada AND the Congress.
President Trump on Saturday threatened to withdraw the United States from the North American Free Trade Agreement, asserting his right to broker a new trade pact that does not include Canada despite opposition from lawmakers and questions over his legal authority to do so.
And apparently preparing to shoot himself in both feet.
Ending NAFTA without a replacement would cause large-scale economic disruption across North America and beyond. Companies accustomed to moving products across borders with few or no taxes would see costs jump — price hikes that would pass to consumers — and domestic producers would find their access to foreign markets diminished.
Canada is the No. 1 destination for American products shipped abroad, and more than 8 million U.S. jobs are supported by trade with Canada, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Which sadly for him, will only increase the already overwhelming odds that Trump will lose control of Congress in the November mid term elections.
As well as also increasing his chances of being impeached.
With Canada being able to claim at least a small part of the credit...
And could anything be better than that?
I realize that in this gloomy aging country it's not fashionable to celebrate our successes, but well done Team Canada.
And thank goodness for Justin Trudeau who Trump could not intimidate.
And is helping to tame the ghastly bully...
The toxic Trudeau haters and the treasonous Cons must be grinding their teeth like cicadas.
But after the long darkness of the Harper years, when so many were forced to live on their knees.
It's good to have a leader who is standing up for our country and its values...
Simon, you've outdone yourself with the Little Donnie graphics today.
ReplyDeleteHi Perry...thank you, I wish I could claim the credit. But in this case I “borrowed” the work of others and made a few little adjustments. It is the long weekend after all, and I am lazy...😉
DeletePrime Ministers who stood for Canada. Lester Person, Pierre Elliot Trudeau, Jean Chretien, Paul Martin. Those that sold out with disastrous consequences Diefenbaker, Mulroney, Harper.
ReplyDeleteAll Liberals, how about that. And Pearson got grabbed by the shirt collar by LBJ for speaking out against Vietnam. Then the infamous "asshole" incident and the welcoming of draft-resisters that set off fireworks between Trudeau père and Nixon. Chrétien and Martin refusing to go along with Shrub's military misadventures. Now Trudeau fils in so many words telling Trump to stick his raw deal where the sunny ways don't shine.
DeleteIt's not over yet, of course. And it will get ugly as election season kicks into high gear and the cons on both sides of the border get desperate like the cornered rats they are. But we know where they stand. A Scheer disgrace, a Trumped-up failure. This American hopes for better camaraderie between Prime Minister Trudeau and President Kamala Harris. Followed, perhaps in 2027 or '31 by Prime Minister Freeland and President Beto O'Rourke or Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez.
Hi Jackie...you’re right, it isn’t over, and it will probably get a lot uglier before it gets better. But Trump’s timing is really off, and with those mid term elections looming, I’d say time is on our side. Of course if I’m wrong, and after tweeting Trump to call him a “quivering blob of Cheese Whiz” I may be forced to take refuge in a cave somewhere in the Scottish highlands...😳
DeleteAll you write is quite correct. Now lets look at this from an other perspective. If you wanted to destroy the U.S. economy, this is exactly what you would do, no deal with any of the three. It would give Russia an advantage and might soften up some of those Congresspeople, who refuse to remove sanctions on Russian. What Trump is doing is making the Saudi's happy, because they want to ensure Canada doesn't criticise them. If Canada is in economic trouble, perhaps there are those who think Canada will not criticise Saudi Arabia so they can trade with them. Hey it may sound crazy, but then those 3 countries are bad shit crazy. I may not like China's human rights policies but you can not say their leader is crazy.
ReplyDeleteI see Trump's carry on as part of a concerted effort to "bring Canada into line" with what Russia, Saudi Arabia and the U.S.A. want. It has very little to do with actual trade.
As one American pointed out, if the trade agreement regarding the auto sector was not in existence, what Canadian car company is going to suffer. NONE. We don't have one. The cars which are manufactured here are G.M., Ford, Chrysler, Toyota, Nissan.
Freeland and Trudeau are doing the right thing, because none of this has to do with trade and everything to do with our sovereignty.
This is a personality contest. More "reality show" stupidity that Trump cut his teeth on and Putin no doubt finds interesting as a "chess game." On one hand we know Trump is a superficial narcissist, who has an idiotic and perverse jealousy of Trudeau and a desire to have a symbolic tough-guy "win" for his mouthbreather base. Then there's Putin's hatred of Freeland for her work exposing the money men of Moscow and ushering in a Magnitsky Act in Canada. Putin also hates Trudeau, mostly for his (Putin's) anti-gay fanaticism and the fact that Trudeau welcomed in LGBTQ refugees from Chechnya, which also incensed the (Russia-aligned) evangelicals in the U.S. (and their cohorts in Canada). But Putin also wants to divide and conquer Canada itself, having had his way with Britain, the E.U. and the U.S. Trudeau faces an election next year and Québec has their own right around the corner. The sticking point of the dairy market as a "wedge" issue could rile up the Québexit sentiment again, and that's one way to topple Trudeau (in his home province, at that) and break the country beyond repair. I've also noticed social media activity taking advantage of the pipeline verdict and now fanning the flames of the (long thought dormant) Albertan nationalist movements. Puts a whole new spin on Chrétien's famous statement about putting an omelet back together.
DeleteThen, and this may seem odd, but this is the kind of people we're dealing with here. I've heard here and there that Putin actually was personally insulted by Trudeau's casual joke made in a TV interview in 2014 before he became PM: "we win more at hockey games and we win fair and square." The Russians take sport very seriously as a source of national pride, and the Sochi Olympics were held that year -- big surprise, the Russians cheated and had to give their medals back. Putin is such a small and insecure man that he "wins" periodic staged hockey matches all by himself or else. Whereas Trudeau in his famous boxing match beat Brazeau fair and square. Putin and Trump, two pee-hookers in the pod: stupid "manly men" doing stupid "manly men" things. Trudeau's an enlightened Vulcan in a world run by dick-measuring monkeys.
'Course it's not about NAFTA. It was never about NAFTA. Especially since Trump admitted to making up BS in an earlier meeting with Trudeau, and how he said that if Congress doesn't go along with the bilateral deal with Mexico, "we'll go back to 'before NAFTA'." Which would... exclude Mexico and revert to the CAFTA deal. Or see the U.S. withdraw and a Can/Mex deal be left over. No, this is about the knives coming out from all directions and personally targeting Trudeau, and Freeland in turn. Trump's comment where he "lamented" that "I can't just kill these people" shouldn't be taken lightly either, considering the kind of sharks in the water.
And that doesn't even scratch the surface of the known unknown that is Fat Cat Harper meeting with Kudlow. What the hell is he up to anyway? The media has really dropped the ball in not investigating him or the IDU.
Saying that no Canadian car company would suffer is silly. The Canadian GM, Ford, Chrysler, Honda and Toyota plants employ thousands of Canadians who would suffer if production dropped or ended due to unfavourable trade conditions with the US. Thousands more at Winnipeg's New Flyer Industries, North America's largest bus and coach manufacturer, would also be affected. And tens of thousands of Canadian workers at auto parts plants would be hit.
DeleteMoving all or part Canada's vehicle production to the US wouldn't hurt the US economy, but it would sure as hell blow a hole in the Canadian one. Vehicles are our number two export, right behind crude, and account for 12% of our exports.
Whether Freeland and Trudeau are doing the right thing remains to be seen.
Hi e.a.f...if Trump slaps huge tariffs on cars made in Canada he will seriously damage our economy and cost us a lot of jobs. But he will also damage the U.S. and Mexican economies and hurt American consumers because the North American auto industry is so intertwined. But I would rather we suffered some hopefully temporary damage than be humiliated by that bully. I’ve fought bullies all my life and that’s where I draw the line...
DeleteHi Jackie...ever since we championed the Magnitzky Act Russian troll activity has reall picked up, so we are going to have to work hard to make sure they don’t help the Cons win the next election. But between the mid terms and Mueller time the situation by then could really have changed, and who knows if Trump will still be around. Maybe I’m just deluding myself, but I can’t help feeling that we’re closer the end game than most people believe...
DeleteHi anon @6:24 Pm...yes you’re right, theoretically Trump could blow a hole in the Canadian economy. But he would also shoot himself in both feet, and the Congress will almost certainly not let him get away with it. We’re still a huge market for them, and we can and will retaliate...
DeleteWhat I find disgusting is the way so many in the MSM are calling on Canada to give in to Trump’s demands. Where did all these cowardly surrender monkeys come from? What a disgrace.
ReplyDeleteHi anon@4:41 PM...yes, I can hardly read our shabby Con media these days. Most of them have turned into a bunch of pathetic surrender monkeys. I don’t recognize my country in those losers, and I bet most Canadians don’t either...
Deletesome of the MSM in Canada is controlled by AMerican hedge funds. Its not like they are Canadian. at one time the owner of the National Enquirier sat on the board of PostMedia. He has since resigned, but you can see how they come to their opinions. Its American influenced all around and hence the comments. I no longer buy MSM newspapers. I buy smaller local ones. At least I find out what is going on in my community.
DeleteInteresting move today. Funding to Pakistan cut off.
ReplyDeleteWhy don't you silly Americans just drive Pakistan into China's orbit.
Own foot sighted... fire.
Hi rumleyfips...American foreign policy has never been great, but now it’s just insane. The Pakistanis, the Palestinians, the attempts to humiliate Canada, I don’t know who Trump thinks he is, Hitler or Bismarck, but he really should be arrested for sheer incompetence..l.
DeleteThe CBC call in show is trying to pose its questions to get anti Trudeau responses. It ain’t workin!
ReplyDeleteThe inside the Queensway crew blame, blame Trudeau, Trump off the hook.
Not the same with the many callers. They see right through Trump, and won’t blame Trudeau. He was in a no win seems to be the consensus. There are even some who say it’s ok to walk away!
John W.
Hi John...i’m A huge supporter of public broadcasting, but I can barely watch CBC news. I don’t know where their Con bias comes from, but it’s sickening and insane. For one of the first things Andrew Scheer has promised to do if he becomes prime minister is kill the CBC’s news department. So those dumb con stooges aren’t just shooting themselves in the feet, they’re shooting themselves in the head....
DeleteIf you're talking about Cross-Country Checkup, I was listening to that as well. That show has improved greatly since Rex Murphy moved back to his little oil patch. I was very happy to hear so many of my own views coming in from the callers on this topic - doesn't often happen on that show! JT's team has been almost flawless in their tactics.
DeleteThe current level of trade unfairness amounts to 20 billion in Canada's favor out of a total of 600 billion in annual trade between the two countries. Yes it could be tweaked but the Con mindset is all about winning and in order to win there must be clearly defined losers. There is no such thing as mutual benefit unless it is short term ganging up in order to stick it to someone else. Trump doesn't really care how his negotiating team defines the big win just as long as he can boast about it. Significantly increased US content, sunset clauses to starve capital investment, US biased dispute mechanisms are all big wins. For a while it looked like US content was an easy one by simply including technology costs in the calculation but unfortunately he has latched onto supply management because its something his feeble mind and those of his most ardent supporters can visualize. Actually if supply management was obsoleted the balance of trade would not change as both countries would subsidize the producers with tax dollars. Unfortunately a whole segment of Canadians would suffer in the transition with no net benefit but that is the Con way ....I am a winner therefore you must be a looser or at least pretend to be one.
ReplyDeleteIt is likely the Mexicans took the pretend approach but its difficult to pretend to ease off on supply management without inciting the Canadian home base. Its likely that Canadian trade was this weeks ruse to distract the news and some of the patriots in his base from the John McCain story. In the upcoming weeks it should be possible to throw him something he can use to declare an exaggerated victory and move on. For Trump the whole NAFTA gambit is nothing more than another stepping stone in his quest to forge the river and reach the golden tower without getting his feet wet. A mortals way of walking on water but nightfall is approaching, the rocks are becoming slippery and the current is increasing. Also, a lie just doesn't seem to go as far as it once did!
RT
Hi RT...the two things we can’t emphasize enough is that one, the balance of Trade heavily favours the U.S.. And two, if we have supply management they heavily subsidize their dairy industry and other ones as well. I honestly believe that Trump sees himself as some kind of Patton and is trying to put the whole world (except for the Russians) under his little thumb. We knew years ago that he slept with a copy of Hitler’s speeches on his bedside table, and it should have have been a warning...😾
DeleteSomebody should tell Trump to lay off on the cheese thing. He could better serve one of his more important pet projects by allowing conditions that might keep the squeeze on US dairy farmers to persist, since many of them would be forced to put the run on some of the foreign and undocumented workers they employ. That could be a win for him. He could growl out a speech about it. Of course, we all know that it's never really about cheese.
ReplyDeleteI'd also be interested in learning about whatever phase-in period will apply to the $16 wage floor agreement he won from the Mexican backstabbers. Have the details been released? It wouldn't serve the greater good to undermine Mexico's value to the partnership too severely or all at once now, would it?
CAFTA is the Central American Free Trade Agreement. The deal made by the US and Canada in the late '80s is generally referred to as the CUSFTA.
Trump is on the "chees thing" because he knows that is one item the government won't move on. He doesn't want a deal and so he chose the thing we won't move on. Its just that easy and simple. Trump wants to isolate Canada, as does Russia and Saudi Arabia. They don't like our P.M. or Freeland and they would like our resources. If they could I'm sure Putin and Trump would carve up Canada in a second, leaving only Quebec and the Maritimes behind. Why leave those behind? Maritimes are too poor and population scattered and Quebec is just too nationalistic. Yes, we'd all be living in the Maritimes or Quebec.
DeletePeople are not taking a real look at the Canadian car industry. Honda, Kia, Toyota, Hyundai build lots cars in Canada. GM is doing OK but Ford business is so far down they are getting out of passenger cars and Chyrsler is now an Italian company. VW, Audi and Mercedes sell cars in Canada.
ReplyDeleteCanadians do not need US branded cars. If GM shuts down in Oshawa, Toyota et al will step up to supply Canadians and hire Canadians. A transition period would be troubling foe some but when the dust settles not much would change.
Not to mention the necessary environmental transition to more public transport (even in small towns, with smaller buses) and electric cars where individual vehicles remain necessary (remote and rural places) with better charging mechanisms.
DeleteThe auto industry turned in moments to supply the military in the Second World War. It is possible to make fundamental changes in the struggle against global warming and catastrophic climate change.
Lagatta, yes you're quite correct. the other thing which we had during WW II was day care and women working in all sort of jobs they would not hold again until the 2000s.
Delete