5mo ago

What's Trump's endgame with global tariffs? Canadian officials say they have a clearer idea

www.cbc.ca /news/politics/trump-global-tariffs-canada-1.7484790

In an interview on Power & Politics, (David Paterson, Ontario's representative in Washington) told host David Cochrane that the Canadians and Americans had a 90-minute meeting and the first half-hour was "a master class" from Lutnick in breaking down the U.S. position on tariffs.

The focus of the U.S. government is dealing with its yearly deficit in federal spending, Paterson said. According to the U.S. Treasury Department, the federal government ran a $1.83 trillion US deficit in the 2024 fiscal year.

There are three ways the U.S. government is working to cut down that deficit, Paterson added.

The first is a major budget resolution that calls for billions of dollars in tax cuts, and the second is slashing the size of government through Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. The third is tariffs, which are meant to be a new revenue source and attract investment into the United States.

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Tax cuts for billionaires to balance the budget? What morons actually believe that?
- The politicians don't believe it, they just have to say it. The people voting for it see themselves as also getting a tax cut, which they want.
  
  The funny thing is the tax cuts will only help those making over $360k/yr.
Wouldn't it be easier for them to just tax the billionaires until they're just ten-millionaires?
- Yes the Americans stupid plan to “reduce the insurmountable deficit” won’t work. They let their deficit ballon to an unimaginable number then expect the world to pay for it. And they got a moron surrounded by a bunch of other morons to try to address it. They are enriching themselves as they pretend to bring a massive deficit down. This won’t work. Also, screw them, Canada should not bend to them.
  
  They have plenty of money there that could pay off their deficit. Look at how much Elon Musk and Bezos are hoarding. Maybe if they had proper tax brackets they wouldn't be in a bind.
  Canada could do similar. We need to stop running on tax cuts, our economy isn't funded by fairy dust and rainbows lol.
- They're trading 'tax' for 'tariff' because greater than 50% of the American populace reads at less than a grade 6 level and will think "China pays for it!" when it comes to tariffs, all while getting reemed paying more for utilities and groceries.
  
  The great American rug pull.
- @Yoga @HellsBelle That must explain why I failed as a billionaire.
It's honestly a little reassuring to here that the reason for these tariffs is "We want to tax the ever-loving shit out of our citizens so we can give money to billionaires, but we don't want to call it a tax."
At least that means that it wasn't meant to be an act of betrayal and pre-text to war with Canada. I mean, it still was an act of betrayal creating massive hardship and permanently damaging our relationship. But the idea of a Russian/Ukraine remake happening along the 49th parallel seems less likely than it did.
- Why not both?
What a bunch of shit bags. The tarrifs violate the same trade agreement the cheeto signed a few years ago. If he doesn't like it, he can request a review in 2026. Until then, he should live up to his agreements. His actions make it abundantly clear any agreement with him isn't worth shit.
And using annexation threats as trade leverage to pass his tax cuts for the rich is beyond despicable.
"There are three ways the U.S. government is working to cut down that deficit, Paterson added. The first is a major budget resolution that calls for billions of dollars in tax cuts"
...ah, yes, nothing balanced the budget like siphoning the federal coffers into the 1%ers' pockets.
- I had to read that twice. Cutting taxes makes the deficit worse...
It's probably going to be cheaper for manufacturing to completely remove themselves from the USSA and avoid doing any business with it at all.
“Tariffs are now a global policy of the United States,” said David Paterson, Ontario’s representative in Washington. “And this is a historic change to global trading patterns, and [the Americans are] very aware of that.”
Paterson said the American plan is to impose tariffs by sector across countries all around the world on April 2. From there, the countries that get along with the U.S. the best will be “first in line” to adjust or mitigate the tariffs.
[Ambassador Kirsten] Hillman described the meeting as “concrete” and appreciated the conversations, but she noted that nothing changed in terms of the ongoing trade war between Canada and the U.S.
That’s what I understood the strategy to be back in 2015 when it was first being floated.
Why did it take the government so long to figure it out? Because it’s so badly thought out that it couldn’t possibly have been the plan?
- Why did it take the government so long to figure it out?
  If you mean the Canadian government, it probably has to do with the multiple of false justifications that have been provided so far.
This sounded off to me, but maybe everything does. Another off-sounding idea I've heard: Gillian Tett, an editor and columnist at the Financial Times, seems to think there's a good chance Trump wants to hyperinflate the US dollar so he can somehow set more favourable repayment terms, when time comes due for them to renegotiate. I expect that would lower their credit rating even more but I guess Trump in that scenario doesn't care about that.
Normally I'd say it's possible for people who have been through failure (in his case, bankruptcy) to know things that more successful people don't, but whatever logic he has is overruled by his apparent narcissism so it's hard to be sure if what he thinks he's going to accomplish has some basis in reality.
"Tariffs are now a global policy of the United States," ... But those countries who ~~play nice~~ sycophantically serve US empire at expense of their GDP and sovereignty will have their existence spared. "This was, enthusiastically, a great and productive meeting"
To understand this as a great meeting, is to understand that if we just compete with Europe/other colonies for shifting our GDP and weapons purchases to US, even more than Europe, that we will get some merciful favoritism in the future, when Trump declares "Canada is no longer taking advantage of us, and there are zero fentanyl deaths in US, and the border line was set correctly, and we are not wasting $200B defending Canada" then maybe tariffs will be removed. This is "good cop Lutnick" making promises that "bad cop Trump" is not bound to. Calling this a good meeting is falling for BS.
Step 1: Get auto manufacturers and CAW to ensure full production capacity in Canada. Use export tariffs on energy and materials, and Potash, to reduce US auto sector capacity, and make their agriculture uncompetitive. No WTO rules respect for US. Auto parts exports to China may not be tariffed from Canada, but they are from US. Ensure decent relations with China to increase exports to China. Reciprocal trade with Europe, for their weapons and Airbus exterminating Boeing orders, but with high export deals to Europe too, and to get Canada-Europe unity in destroying US manufacturing, economy, and debt sustainability.
Step 2: IF auto manufacturers do not cooperate, and colonies choose US over Canada, then full decouple from US, and join BRICS/SCO. Chinese FDI/belt and road. Abandoning war on Russia, NORAD/US military cooperation. Canadian manufacturing is very highly subsidized. Using export tariff revenue from step 1 to subsidize it more is acceptable, but it requires cooperation from manufacturers. Having much cheaper/better value cars is a completely reasonable policy. Future of manufacturing is robotics anyway, and it will have declining employment.
Calling the US trade meeting "great", is fulfilling US empire's wet dream of EU/Canada going into direct war with Russia and China, while buying US weapons to do so, and sparing US soldiers in the process. The generational hatred manufactured by US propaganda that made us support this suicidal evil under Biden should not be amplified tenfold. Canada's divisiveness with Russia, China, and Mexico has increased under this trade war already. Dead wrong direction.
Calling this trade meeting productive is the same gas lighting as Chuck Schumer calling the budget deal unacceptable for a few hours, and then betraying the US (and Canada/world) by pretending that a government shutdown gives Trump more power than the explicit unchecked power given to him in bill.
Trusting the US to keep Canada's standard of living sustainable is a terrible mistake. We need to aggressively force them to.
- And denominate all international trade, including energy, in Euros instead of USD. I predict that one alone would make the top of Trump's head go spinning off into space.
  
  OPEC would have sway in this. EU and Arab Kingdoms use US controlled SWIFT payment system. Only BRICS have been working on an alternate system, and Europe's history of sanctions and sanctimony usually at US's behest doesn't make them a reliable currency partner for the global south. Supporting BRICS system might be quicker path, and actual independence from US.
  For sure, EU trade in EUR is an easier step. Global south would need to trust their holdings not seized.

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