Originally Posted by VNORTH2
I get the feeling, Marty. that you don't really know much about how trade deficits/surpluses occur...Rob B. had the right answer but you chose to ignore his point in your response ..... Having governments trying to balance trade between countries with different sized economies is crazy"

Trade deficits don't get bloated in "favour" of one country over another they just happen

The disadvantage you have is this: the US is exporting to a market of 40 million people with a maximum upside in 2025 of maybe $500B to $600B
Canada is exporting to a market of 341 million people....8.5 times bigger....our upside is 4 to 5 Trillion...tariffs have nothing to do with it...
There have been three free trade agreements between Canada and the US, the last 2 with Mexico....your guys signed all three and our guys signed all three with the trade restrictions clearly noted....the last one signed by Trump....everything was out in the open....my suggestion is you have someone phone Musk and tell him to fire the US negotiators....they just might be the problem


One last point....the deficit is not going away and it is going to get very much bigger because you need our natural resources and energy which make about 40-50% of our exports to the US

Just some thoughts

Steve

Steve
Are those the facts of life?
Or is that the narrative that the smaller countries need to convince themselves and the bigger countries of in order to get the outcome that they want?
Is Trump concerned with Canada or the overall circumstance that the US finds itself in after decades of having its mfg base gutted by cheap labor in developing countries, that just keep taking and taking?

I'm a Texan. Are you sure that we can't survive without your energy and natural resources?

Or...are tariffs that make your products unviable in US markets going to choke your country out?

Rob is so one-sided, I'm not sure what realities he actually gets correct if any. He seems to be a Rachel Maddow-EU-German fan boy.



I'll leave you with some thoughts...

IMO and others, Canada is our very best ally. We share an ocean that distances us from ancient European animosities. You are our peaceful neighbor to the north. Cold AF. Too liberal, but so is Minnesota.

Americans dont want to see that relationship destroyed. It would hurt people who are not our enemy and it would hurt us. Trump doesn't either.
The Canadian trade relationship is one of many that he wants scrutinized. So do I and others.

Take a breath. My prediction fwiw, it will wash out fine. Your people and our people will hug and kiss, and move on.

https://soundcloud.com/sunset-poet-of-texas