Canada's Prime Minister speaks on tariffs

[littleman]

Yep, plenty of motivation out there right now.  The talk about forcibly making Canada the 51st. state alone is probably enough motivation to boycott US products. My second youngest was planning to do a semester abroad in Spain, now we're worried about anti-Anerican backlash making her a target.

[rcjordan]

Canada to Cut Off Electricity to US States: 'Need to Feel the Pain' - Newsweek
https://www.newsweek.com/canada-cut-off-electricity-us-states-need-feel-pain-2039125

73% of French: US is no longer a French ally of France
https://www.bfmtv.com/international/europe/ukraine/sondage-bfmtv-guerre-en-ukraine-pour-73-des-francais-les-etats-unis-ne-sont-plus-un-allie-de-la-france_AN-202503040506.html

[buckworks]

Justin Trudeau's speech on tariffs this morning.

This is a statesman.


Transcript:

https://globalnews.ca/news/11065019/justin-trudeau-transcript-donald-trump-tariffs/

Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CROCVYKXsQ

Formal statement from Prime Minister's office:

https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/statements/2025/03/03/statement-prime-minister-trudeau-on-unjustified-us-tariffs-against-canada

[littleman]

No one is going to win this trade war.  Trudeau may be right about the motivation .  To borrow "Debbie" from RC, she thinks Trump has overplayed his hand in many ways already.  No one is going to be happy at the end of this and his support will erode.

[Brad]

For buckworks:

https://madeinca.ca

[buckworks]

Thanks. That's one I hadn't seen.

The "Boycott America" sentiment is spreading widely. One that's been getting media attention is that several provinces have pulled all US liquor from the shelves.

[Brad]

A different approach:

https://madeometer.com

Take a photo of a product and this will tell you where it was made.

[ergophobe]

>> No one is going to win this trade war

No, but the extent that anyone is, it would have to be Canada since they have a very important sleeper cell in the US that is undermining Trump's efforts here. It is called the US stock market. Every time it jitters, Trump blinks.

Noah Smith, until recently a mostly non-partisan economics blogger who has been pushed to take slightly more partisan stances, has what I think is the right take - Trump is not concerned with revenue, with trade balance, alliances or anything like that. He, like many before him of similar persuasion, mostly but not all from the Hall of Villains, he wants self-sufficiency, aka autarky.

Trump Takes a Baseball Bat to the US Economy
https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/trump-takes-a-baseball-bat-to-the

Trump describes himself as a germaphobe and has branded himself as anti-immigrant which, at a high level, are basically the same impulse. Though he can't say it, some of his most devoted supporters in the Sentate will, like Senators Mullin and Alford...

Mullin said: "I think our constituents are going to do what it takes to get America back on track. We're tired of countries taking advantage of us."...Rep. Mark Alford of Missouri told me he thinks tariffs are "going to have an impact," particularly on farmers....Asked if he thinks his constituents feel the same way about shouldering some of the costs, Alford said: "I think so."

In other words, this is going to *hurt* not help consumers and businesses and farmers, but it will be worth it because it will make America great again, by which they mean making America less connected to the rest of the world. Which is also why "globalist" is one of their favorite epithets.

[rcjordan]

B.C. planning legislation that could toll trucks travelling to Alaska, Eby says | CBC News

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/us-truck-tolls-alaska-1.7476852

===

Ontario to slap 25 per cent tax on electricity to the U.S. on Monday amid trade war

Despite tariff pause "Premier's office has confirmed that U.S. booze will remain off LCBO shelves and a planned 25 per cent export tax on the electricity that Ontario sends to three U.S. states will still go into effect as planned on Monday. "

https://www.cp24.com/news/2025/03/06/doug-ford-says-ontario-will-go-ahead-with-25-per-cent-tax-on-electricity-it-provides-to-the-us-on-monday/

[Brad]

Soup company sees sales surge as shoppers buy Canadian to protest tariffs | CBC


https://news.yahoo.com/news/soup-company-sees-sales-surge-090000727.html

[rcjordan]

So much for home-building and the housing crisis...

"Canadian softwood lumber, which was already subject to a 14.5% duty, now effectively faces a nearly 40% total tariff with the new increase."


US lumber states will be over-harvested.

Unintended^? consequence:
We'll move away from lumber and traditional residential framing construction.  3d will boom.  And maybe metal studs.  (30-ish years ago, lumber skyrocketed and metal framing pricing was at par or maybe slightly cheaper.  In my town, I know of one 1.5-story home with a brick exterior built back then with metal framing. I drove by a couple of times to watch it being erected.)

[ergophobe]

Friend down the street pivoted to steel-stud SIPs when lumber prices spiked. Even so, there is a lot of wood in that house when you get right down to it.

[buckworks]

Canada will have a new prime minister as soon as we work through the formalities.

Mark Carney won the Liberal leadership race with 86% of the vote. I'm pleased. Among other qualifications, he has a Ph.D in Economics. He was governor of the Bank of Canada and also the Bank of England.

Here's his acceptance speech:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qv6JIMtX8Qc

[rcjordan]

Former PM Jean Chretien reminded Trump:

"We beat you in Quebec, we beat you in Ontario, then we made a trip to burn down the White House."

[Brad]

>Boycott America

Canada reconsidering F-35 purchase amid tensions with Washington, says minister

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/f35-blair-trump-1.7484477


Related:

Portugal is also reconsidering F-35.  Trump gets all of Europe spooked so they decide to do a major rearm, but Trump also lost their trust so they are not going to buy American weapons.