First of all, I don’t think Donald Trump is that dumb: I predict, if there’s no deal with Canada before Wednesday’s “deadline”, the US President will extend the date for his threatened new tariffs on Canada.
BUT, since the Mad Hatter indeed seems to be mad, in every definition of the word, Canada must be prepared to strike back!
Three times Prime Minister Mark Carney has previously dropped retaliatory Canadian moves (on consumer goods, digital media, the Gordie Howe funding agreement) … and it got Canada NOTHING in return: US tariffs on Canadian products remained.
Enough is enough!
Canadians are a peaceful people; most of us still like most of our American neighbours; yearn for a return to the days when the US was a friend, partner and ally … but at some point, if ANY foreign leader hurls insults at our country, demeans its sovereignty and imposes crippling 50% tariffs on $30 Billion of our exports … Canada MUST hit back.
And Carney seems to agree.
Not by imposing a larger export tax on Canadian oil, natural gas or electricity heading south … but on US exports heading north.
US government figures show Canadians bought $336 Billion worth of US goods in 2025 and $89 Billion in US services; Canada is the top customer for 34 US states; and 1.4 Million US jobs depend on Canadian trade.
A report prepared for the Canadian American Business Council estimates that if the Canada US Mexico (CUSMA) trade agreement ends, 214,000 American and 102,000 Canadian jobs would be lost.
“The impacts also extend beyond jobs. According to the report’s estimates, the breakdown scenario would impact the GDP of both countries, costing the U.S. economy $1.04 trillion US and costing Canada $271 billion Cdn by 2035,” the CBC reported last week. (You can see the full report here: https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/trade-renegotiation-impact-report-9.7303374.
Imposing the 50% tariff on Canada would hurt Canadian exporters, but ALSO impact the US economy TERRIBLY … just before the US midterms … so that’s why I believe Trump will back off.
But knowing the Mad Hatter, the PM did ask Canada’s Premiers recently for private recommendations on US products to hit IF Trump carries out his threat.
Bravo!
Canada MUST act … even if tariffs imposed on Canada-bound US products make them more costly north of the border. (Hopefully, their suggestions highlight products (foods, goods) also available here from friendlier and competitive non-tariffed countries.)
For Canada to do NOTHING would only encourage Trump to bully us even more.
As BC Premier David Eby noted this week, US tariffs on Canadian lumber alone already approach 45% … HIGHER than the US charges on lumber imports from Europe or even Russia!
“The softwood lumber sector is bigger than auto parts and steel combined in terms of the Canadian economy and it needs to be front and center at the table,” Eby said Friday.
And I agree with him that not a drop of US alcoholic products should be restored on BC (or Canadian) store shelves until the lumber dispute is settled. Steel, aluminum, auto trade, energy too.
Canadians do NOT want a trade war with the US.
Let’s hope a new fair trade deal is soon agreed to, but, as Carney has said, no deal is better than a bad deal.
And if Trump goes ahead with another attack … this time, Canada MUST fight back!
Harv Oberfeld
🇨🇦🇨🇦Check the labels! BUY CANADIAN!🇨🇦🇨🇦
(Follow @harveyoberfeld on “X” for FREE First Alerts to new postings on this Blog.)
Yes we have to protect our economy from this assault. 100%.
However this should trigger a huge introspective look at many of our past actions in the international arena.
I’m no fan of the supposed stinky Orange Octogenarian, however he is a boorish bully, we all knew that decades ago. One thing I 100% know about most bullies, they are not super intelligent, lack discipline & savvy to truly accomplish much without resorting to fear & intimidation. They seek out weak types to prey upon, a huge part of the bully playbook.
However, in Canada we obviously have sent some messaging out which bullies (Trump, Xi, etc.) see as exploitable weaknesses.
The last decade we had a leaser who allowed crime, softened the rule of law, virtue signalled on almost all issues, fentanyl (a PRC export mostly) flows through our docks, now expand said docks and offer no real world attempt to stem the flow into our nation, a weakness now used as a motivating factor for a bully, are we really happy with imported synthetic opioids? Some bully will weaponize our lazy drug laws! Sorry, already has! Now build another oil pipeline to the coast for Asian customers, like Modi & Xi, 2 leaders of nations who meddle in our politics in manners not legal or ethically correct, sorta like the Orange Scourge, eh?
Given our resources, we should never have become a consuming nation which abandoned our manufacturing base, we once were a powerhouse in manufacturing, but shiny crap from the 3rd world is a tad cheaper and our landfills are the final destination for these trinkets. Price, quality, speed, you only can get 2 if you are lucky, sometimes only 1.
Be it shiploads of oil, rail cars of lumber, ships full of raw logs, ships full of grain & ag products, trains & ships full of minerals, we are the bulk rate cheap suppliers, apparently happy to surrender our commodities for a pittance due to our lack of any serious manufacturing base, now we’re gonna build power hungry AI centres for the folks who need help with the most basic mental functions of the human ecperience?
We need to HARDEN UP, we need to realize that every other nation will if given the chance, weaponize anything to gain advantages on us! We have left far too many opportunities for others to exploit, the last decade was/is the most open to exploitation messaging in our history. We can insulate ourselves somewhat from Trumps, Xis & Putins, we just have to pay a bit in advance and develop some fortitude & resolve.
We left the opportunities out there for others to exploit, be honest with ourselves and realize, greed & ego cannot be sanitized, words are empty when cause & effect logic is cast aside in favour of endless word salad with foreign salad dressing.
Virtue signalling is virtually worthless and often a passive aggressive mechanism which accomplishes nothing in the real world, just more virtual BS.
(Response: Let’s keep it real: Yes, we gave up a lot of our manufacturing industries and jobs because labour overseas was much cheaper.BUT in return, they bought billions and billions of dollars of our resources that they could have obtained elsewhere (Russia, Australia, South America etc). As far as the US is concerned , it IS our closest neighbour and normally a natural friend and ally. I believe and hope that after Trump, we will largely restore that partnership … but also continue to diversify with new partnerships overseas. Ho)
Sorry but I saw today on the news the new BC Conservative leader and can’t believe they voted her in … she was in her car making a statement … is the first time I have seen her
saying anything about the current government … Centre BC is looking better all the time as an alternative to NDP …. just saying
(Response: I saw that… also not impressed. Didn’t sound like someone ready to be Premier of a province. Ho)
All C oil should be sold at wti price- no more discount.?
Ban raw log export.?
Canada is 1/200 th world pop so don’t worry as much about enviro impact as China / India.?
(Response: Canada should do its part in cleaning up the environment, but also speak up and call out those countries who don’t. Ho)
With the latest developments and PM Carney saying “You’re at war when you get attacked. We got attacked” I have never been more behind a political leader than I am now.
That goes for Ford, Kinew and Eby on this issue and I think it is high time every Canadian gets tough, not just whine but be active, even if that means being more unfriendly towards ordinary Americans.
This summer, more recreational boaters that ever have been plying our waters, most bringing their own food and booze and we have been friendly. Victoria has seen more US visitors than in past years and we have been friendly. Travel to the US has been increasing of late and we have been friendly.
David Eby says: “Our politeness should never be mistaken for weakness.” Every Canadian should grasp that notion and stand up to every American.
Now is a time when our politeness is put on the shelf; get out of the Starbucks line up and start patronizing local coffee shops; add a 25% user fee to all US credit cards or stop accepting them all together; refuse US cash; add a user fee to all US hotel usage; deny US tourists access to BC marine parks and Provincial campgrounds.
We are a spoiled complacent bunch who have never faced real hardships, so we need to suck it up and fight back.
We don’t need to be nasty or aggressive, just not so friendly. Send US visitors home with a message; “enough is enough!” No more Mr. nice guy.
(Response: Blogging on the latest developments tomorrow… but the impression I’m getting so far as details emerge is that Canadians are happy Carney walked away from what is looking like would have been a bad deal. But our displeasure/anger is not directed at the American people … just the bully Trump, who thankfully at the last minute demanded even more. more. more … leading Carney to finally say No. Ho)
Just as with a loud, obnoxious, bullying head of the household next door who is disrupting the neighbours, it is time to send the rest of the family a strong united message; if you can’t deal with the elephant in the room, we can no longer be friends.
To deflect and take attention away from Epstein, the Don started the Iran war. To take attention away from that failure, he attacked Canada. What will be next and when will the Americans start objecting at their local level?
Canada’s MAGA, Make Alberta Greedy Again, is out of step with Carney and the rest of Canada. Carney will be cheered on by other countries and unions. Now it is up to us retirees, young families, workers and business owners to put aside our personal US friendships and get all our 83 million elbows up.
600+ more sawmill/Pulp mill jobs gone this week, good thing zero losses in Metro, right Eby & Parmar?
(Response: BC’s forest industry has been suffering terribly for years; the BC NDP government, critics say, is making it even worse, through policies and regulations; and there are no signs so far the Carney Liberal government has achieved anything in the current trade talks to save it. Ho)
The forest industry has been in decline since the 1980’s. The province let the big corporations suck the lifeblood out of the industry and did nothing.
The entire forestry fiasco needs an investigation but with unions, politcans and corporate leaders and accountants involved, it just not going to happen.
Well the deal is done, pending any last minute perceived slight on the part of the US President from a Canadian Premier (Ford October 2025).
Why Keystone – The Investigative Journalism Foundation is reporting that “South Bow CanÂada Services has reported spending US$400,000 to lobby federal officials in the U.S. since it first registered on Sept. 9, 2025.”
Thankful for the people on both sides of the border whose livelihoods may have been saved from the impact of tariffs but concerned how profoundly undemocratic the process is on both sides of the border. Carney’s trade advisory committee on Canada-USA trade relations, while bipartisan has only member elected to Parliament, Dominic LeBlanc, all the others from the political and business elite. I’m sure the it will get voted on in Parliament but after the Liberals gain their majority on the 29th, and very much after the deal is “un fait accompli” as they say. Little use to comment on the US failure of democracy, only have to look at how Keystone got on the agenda.
(Response: The key will be what’s in it: did Carney fight off the tariffs … or cave in too much to just have them reduced, not eliminated. Can’t wait to see the details. Ho)
Trump is completely stupid. He’s isolated all worldly freinds especially Americans best freind Canada except for war criminal Netanyahu. He and his incompetent morons have put the world into the red zone of disorder, caused even more untold economic suffering all over the planet, and in his own country, openly coddles other dictators and bullies as he is himself. Rubs in the ballroom greatness into the publics face that is only used to be used for swarays for the elites and ass kissers and other bullies he loves. Started his insane and unessecary losers war on Iran with the backing of his eqaully stupid warmongering idiots in his administration that only going to bring bad outcomes for Americans and he has jeopardized world security to a very high degree. He’s the only complete idiot who has brought about the very high possibility that causes America to be kicked out of the middle east, kicked out of European countries because he has irrevocably sown mistrust of American ties with the Arab coalition. Now even other superpowers like Russia and China and other enemy or adversarial states are pushing harder to have closer middle eastern ties and become more involved with Iran. Hes caused nothing but a lose, lose situation for America. Now we also see the absolute crazy fuel supply, food chain prices and necessary lifesupporting supply chains. This guy is is not just the Mad Hatter, that’s to light. He’s a sick, chaos minded morally corrupt bastard, thug and bully and loser no different than the other thugs running their countries. He’s even a very naive and dum loser at that.
(Response: I would not say that the US is being kicked out of Europe or the Middle East: their power and influence and economic importance should not be under-estimated. However, there is no doubt that the trust and credibility of the United States has been badly damaged under Donald Trump. And the free world is confused and even disgusted by watching the US President kow tow to Putin, Kim Jung Un, numerous Arab dictators… while insulting, attacking and turning the US back on their longstanding allies and friends. And then he is surprised when they did not come to US aid in the war against Iran! He really is not as smart as he thinks he is. Ho)
Trump and his regime of totalky dum thugs, and bullies have given absolute proof that America can’t be trusted anymore anywhere and will be treated and approached with much skepticism. Thecworld order has been turned on its head because of this complete idiot and his table of the most stupid people America has ever had asleadership. Even their once better military leaders are now run by a replacement of dum ass robots. America’s hegemony is being squeezed out everywhere and new coalitions and powers are filling the void the idiots have left for them. Trump and his incompetents and I might add highly stupid warmongering meatheads like Hegseth and others have managed to cause the expansion of thier reckless war with Iran into a more regionalized war and opening the possibility of an even wider conflict. Other coalitions of world powers are faster becoming involved in having in the Arab world especially with Iran more so to help in squeezing out America. Even in Europe such as Germany there are loud voices from various groups and party’s explicitly wanting American bases shut down and American forces removed. The German government hasn’t themselves asked that but has had heated disagreements with Trump which has caused the maniac brained immature child president to draw down thousands of troops and equipment from Germany. It will only take a harder government to take over and its getting louder as is other countries that are fed up with the mad president. I canngive credit to Trump for one thing, andvthat is he has pushed Europe to coalesce into a major military and economic super power for its protection against the Russian bear. It is about time. They did hang on the American coattails to long but they also know and see the uncertain future of America. Trump caused all of the uncertainty, mistrust, chaos, world conomic insecurity and, he’s just a complete wingnut. He drank too much bleach I guess. The World is turned a 180 and not for the better and especially not for Americans. I think their in for a sobering future of deep doo doo. As for Isreal, well I think they with the help of dum boy in Washington have gotten themselves into a real bad pickle.
The “war” will continue … remember the Americans and us have two more years of this idiot … by the way, Eby..put the American liquor back on the shelves and price this triple what they were … perhaps Canadians will still bypass their booze … but who knows …
(Response: Apparently US booze is not selling well in the two provinces (Alberta and Saskatchewan) that put them back on the shelves. I agree with EB on this one: don’t put US booze back on Canadian shelves until lumber ( steel and aluminum too) tariffs are dealt with permanently.Ho)
I will not be two more years I am afraid. Despite polling, about one third of the population still supports Trump. This tells me change will not happen with a new election.
The big problem facing the USA today is the complete dismantling of government by Trump. The Department of Justice has become a poor man’s gestapo, which is going after Trumps enemies.
The media is mostly owned by billionaire Trump supporters and “fake” news is the norm today.
The military, who knows; but it seems it has been purged with Trump leaning adherents.
I can go on but I get the feeling this Canadian/American negotiation is theatre furthering Trump’s asymmetrical war against Canada.
What is saving us at the moment is Carney, who I think is on the Trump con and the absolute American ignorance of Canada itself.
Most Americans do not realize that Canada is a bilingual country, by law; most Americans do not realize that the current King is not an absolute monarch; most Americans do not realize that Canadians are taught differently and think differently than Americans.
We are different and not just some historical oddity that has survived till this day. This lesson is still unlearned by the Maple MAGA’s!
Canada is the land of the loyalists and we are loyal friends to many nations today and this is something Trump and his negotiators do not realize, because once loyalty is lost and it has been, Canada turns into its self defense posture and then unpleasant things will happen.
I believe we have reached that point, Trump has created a wave of Canadian hate and retrogression that once started becomes extremely hard to control.
This was good 2000 years ago and it still hold true today!
Hosea 8:7, “For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.
We must understand, Trump does not negotiate, rather to subjugate; he wants a win/loose deal. Trump wins, Canada looses.
Also, Trump never adheres to a deal and what maybe negotiated today will be ignored tomorrow.
Remember, Trump bankrupted four casinos! He ain’t no business whiz, has he makes his money largely by not just dubious means but criminal means and why he is desperate for “blanket immunity” for him and his family from tax officials!
Canada is dealing with a classic kleptocracy and deals mean nothing.
So what to do.
A 50% export tax on potash, electricity and oil, to match his 50% tariffs on Canadian goods. I would also go so far as having “exit visas” for Canadians going south of the border.
We are living in a new world, brought to you by MAGA and their poster boy, Donald J. Trump. There is no going back and Canada must distance themselves from the USA.
Hoping that Trump will TACO is a vain hope because this guy changes position as the wind blows and he has a new squeeze and it seems that is more important than anything else at this moment.
For the USA, sadly the Americans have not woken up to the fact that Trump and MAGA are engineering the completion of the 40 year coup d’etat. The USA is playing the part of Rip Van Winkle, asleep while the country is about to enter the abyss.
Question: “Will there be midterm elections?”
“The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.”
Sadly, we must think of the USA as the dystopian future under MAGA/Trump. going back is no longer an option.
(Response: The problem with the 50% export tax is that neither Alberta, nor Saskatchewan… two of the provinces highly involved in that… would not support such a tax. Much better to put our own import tariffs on products that Canadians can access domestically or from other friendlier nations for the same or even lower prices… ie fruits, vegetable, canned goods, vehicles, machinery etc. And although I do not think it would be a good idea to have an exit tax on Canadians or others leaving here for the US, how about enforcing current laws that limit what anyone in the United States can bring into Canada without duties. The government is far too lax in enforcing that at the border.Ho)
Harv, Signed the petition to remove (Less than Ambassadorial) Dutch Pete from Canada yet? Over 200k Canadians and counting.
Ironic, In WW2 brave Canadian Soldiers liberated his country of birth yet he has no problem denigrating us on behalf of the Mad King.
Go Home Pete, you are an embarrassment.
(Response: He is their Ambassador, toeing the line that Trump has laid down… and I doubt any alternative would be much better, although maybe more tactful. Hoekstra is not the problem: his boss is. Ho)
Harv…Why don’t you just run for office??? 🤔💪
(Response: Because I could not pander, lie or spin all day and then sleep well at night. Ho)
Canada will become the 51st State.
Change my mind!
(Response: That’s just more meaningless gibberish from Trump. Why? Because the last thing Trump and the Republicans, especially MAGA types, would want is, by US standards, almost a whole nation of Democrats, and even Social Democrats, to vote in their elections! Ho)