Robin Williams once quipped, “Canada is the nice apartment over the meth lab.” Now, our upstairs neighbors are getting fed up. And they’re ready to evict us ever since the condo below was purchased by a “convicted felon and known predator.” This is beyond tragic to see U.S./Canadian relations degenerate like this. And trust me, we’re not the only people screaming about this. Sane Republicans (a slim and extremely quiet minority these days) are calling this The Dumbest Trade War In History. That’s the title of a Wall Street Journal editorial board piece. But before we get to that, listen to the Canadian reaction to this idiocy.
We were once respected, now we are treated like the laughingstock we are. We have a Felon and his mail order bride in the WH? What a joke we are.
— Denison Barb (@DenisonBarbs) February 1, 2025
President Trump will fire his first tariff salvo on Saturday against those notorious American adversaries . . . Mexico and Canada. They’ll get hit with a 25% border tax, while China, a real adversary, will endure 10%. This reminds us of the old Bernard Lewis joke that it’s risky to be America’s enemy but it can be fatal to be its friend. […]
Mr. Trump sometimes sounds as if the U.S. shouldn’t import anything at all, that America can be a perfectly closed economy making everything at home. This is called autarky, and it isn’t the world we live in, or one that we should want to live in, as Mr. Trump may soon find out.
Take the U.S. auto industry, which is really a North American industry because supply chains in the three countries are highly integrated. In 2024 Canada supplied almost 13% of U.S. imports of auto parts and Mexico nearly 42%. Industry experts say a vehicle made on the continent goes back and forth across borders a half dozen times or more, as companies source components and add value in the most cost-effective ways.
And everyone benefits. The office of the U.S. Trade Representative says that in 2023 the industry added more than $809 billion to the U.S. economy, or about 11.2% of total U.S. manufacturing output, supporting “9.7 million direct and indirect U.S. jobs.” In 2022 the U.S. exported $75.4 billion in vehicles and parts to Canada and Mexico. That number jumped 14% in 2023 to $86.2 billion, according to the American Automotive Policy Council.
American car makers would be much less competitive without this trade. Regional integration is now an industry-wide manufacturing strategy—also employed in Japan, Korea and Europe—aimed at using a variety of high-skilled and low-cost labor markets to source components, software and assembly.
The result has been that U.S. industrial capacity in autos has grown alongside an increase in imported motor vehicles, engines and parts. From 1995-2019, imports of autos, engines and parts rose 169% while U.S. industrial capacity in autos, engines and parts rose 71%.
As the Cato Institute’s Scott Lincicome puts it, the data show that “as imports go up, U.S. production goes up.” Thousands of good-paying auto jobs in Texas, Ohio, Illinois and Michigan owe their competitiveness to this ecosystem, relying heavily on suppliers in Mexico and Canada.
This is the kind of basic information any American president has had up until now. Trump doesn’t know any of this and he can’t be bothered to learn. The price of housing and cars could skyrocket under this insane system and as to food, eye eye eye. Because that involves our other neighbor, whom we also have attacked with a stupid tariff.
Tariffs will also cause mayhem in the cross-border trade in farm goods. In fiscal 2024, Mexican food exports made up about 23% of total U.S. agricultural imports while Canada supplied some 20%. Many top U.S. growers have moved to Mexico because limits on legal immigration have made it hard to find workers in the U.S. Mexico now supplies 90% of avocados sold in the U.S. Is Mr. Trump now an avocado nationalist?
And Trump has evidently forgotten what happened with Mexico the first time he did this, in 2018, when he imposed steel and aluminum tariffs on Mexico. Mexico hit it right back at him, putting tariffs on steel, pork products, fresh cheese and bourbon.
None of this is supposed to happen under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement that Mr. Trump negotiated and signed in his first term. The U.S. willingness to ignore its treaty obligations, even with friends, won’t make other countries eager to do deals. Maybe Mr. Trump will claim victory and pull back if he wins some token concessions. But if a North American trade war persists, it will qualify as one of the dumbest in history.
And are you ready for the cherry on the sundae? Trump admitted yesterday that this would hurt the consumer. He’s simply fine with that. Has MAGA been listening?
“Temporary short term disruption.” https://t.co/kdgzdKQEB4
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) January 31, 2025
And Elon Musk said the same thing, “temporary hardship.” I believe them when they say disruption and hardship. It’s the temporary and short term part I don’t buy. Meanwhile eggs have risen from $14 for eighteen to $16 in some places. So MAGA, are we winning yet? Is America great yet? When might we expect that to start? I have to end this piece with this image. This is what the Dow Jones did at 1:00 p.m. yesterday when Trump announced these idiotic tariffs.
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idk I wouldn’t even trade with America if I were Canada and Mexico it’s not like fentanyl will be gone lol and I would also drop egg cartons in the store by accident
Maybe someone can clarify. trump’s action clearly voids the USMCA trade deal that he himself negotiated back in 2017. As it was an international agreement enacted into law by Congress, doesn’t it fall to Congress to repeal the law, or not?
I want Charlie Angus for my president! He said it all just right.
I’ve met Charlie a few times. He may be a little to the left of me politically, but his goals are always what’s best for ALL Canadians. You never even need to question his sincerity to his mission of being a great member of Parliament both for his constituents and for Canada as a whole. He is a great guy. Brilliant as hell, warm, caring about everyone, and with a great wit. You’re right, you DO want him. But you can’t have him. He’s ours. And by the way, please forget about us ever being a part of the USA. We truly want to stay out of the Meth Lab.
Still waiting for any sign of spine/guts/balls/integrity from Congress. Not holding my breath.