Okay, Canadian steelworkers and aluminum producers it is time to join with our softwood lumber hewers and milk producers in facing the enemy. We have looked in our trade mirror all along the unwalled southern border and seen the enemy - and it is us.
Yep, don’t blame Trump for the 25% duty on steel. It’s our own fault for making good steel from quality ore that happens to be north of that border at wages that are lower than the now unemployed steelworkers in Pittsburgh and Allentown are. If we had been paying our workers more money and had a Loonie that was at parity with the Greenback, none of this would have happened. Our steel (and aluminum) would have cost the same as US steel. Mind you, in all the years we have been selling them our natural resources, they were making cheap stuff with it, selling cars, appliances, and assorted junk all over the world at a great profit.
Same with the softwood lumber. They used up all their good softwood and have only junky, knotty wood left so they have been using our cheap and plentiful two by fours for years. Get a couple of good hurricanes and you need some solid Canadian fir and spruce plywood to patch things up again. Shucks, they even frame those thrown-together houses in Florida from Tembec wood - and then sell them to Canadian snowbirds. At a profit.
Then there is oil. We used to supply about 18% of American oil needs until they discovered environment-friendly fracking. Mind you they still take our raw crude, refine it in Texas and sell it back to us (and others) as gasoline at great profit. Too bad we never found a way to distill that stuff ourselves. And it’s too late to start now since green power is the new kid on the block.
The US President is talking, make that tweeting, to his remaining European friends that they best keep quiet or he’ll add a duty to their luxury cars. Imagine those Europeans not wanting Made in America cars when they have better, less polluting cars of their own. And by golly, they had better watch out with all those cheeses, biscuits and summer sausages they are shipping by the planeload to America - easy to put a duty on that stuff. Trade war, hah! Easy to win.
The thing is, Uncle Donald is right. The United States has the capability to make everything they need right there in their own country. Mind you, that Bourbon stuff is terrible! They are large enough, have the know-how and the infrastructure, to meet their own isolated needs. However, when the price of those home-made goods rises due to labour costs and scarce steel, aluminum, lumber, good wine, warm clothing and cheap sneakers, the people may rebel. And as foreign markets close or tighten in response to those imposed duties, capitalism will wither. After all, there is limited ‘growth’ within the US borders.
Somehow we have to improve our relations with the almost most powerful nation in the world so the President takes us under his wings. First, we can have Justin apologize. He’s really good at that - promise the Prez a few million for his campaign. Then we could offer to let the US armed forces use our country for front-line defences against Kim and Val. Oh, we already do that? Sorry. Okay try this one: we could open up our borders to guns. Think of all the handguns and assault rifles he could sell to Canadians!
The NRA would love us - and that’s all you need. In Guns We Trust.
Just saying.
