President Trump Threatens the "Ruination" of Canada and other Trading Partners

[alanis]

It is one thing to call NAFTA, falsely, the worst trade deal in the world. We have heard this before, and have now heard it again from President Trump in a speech on September 7 in North Dakota, along with its usual companion piece, the allegation that Canada has been taking unfair advantage of the most powerful country in the world.

Such statements are maddening but demonstrably incorrect. Both Canadian and United States statistics show total trade between the two countries to be always growing, in mutual benefit to both economies. That trade is also (not that a trade surplus or trade deficit would mean that the trade is not beneficial to both sides) strikingly balanced.

It is quite another, though, for one trading partner to declare to the other that concessions must be made in order to avoid economic warfare. Yet, it is difficult to interpret otherwise the additional statements made on September 7.

https://www.mccarthy.ca/en/insights/blog...g-partners

[alanis]

Trump began discussing Canada on his way to a Republican fundraising event in North Dakota. He told reporters on Air Force One: “Canada has been ripping us off for a long time. Now, they’ve got to treat us fairly.”

“I don’t want to do anything bad to Canada. I can — all I have to do is tax their cars, it would be devastating. If I tax cars coming in from Canada, it would be devastating,” he continued, according to a pool reporter travelling with him.

https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2018/...anada.html

[alanis]

Trudeau brushes off report Trump proposed new name for NAFTA that could exclude Canada


The Wall Street Journal has reported that Donald Trump suggested a new name for NAFTA at a private Republican fundraiser Wednesday.

The Wall Street Journal has reported that Trump proposed to change NAFTA’s name to the “USMC” pact — standing for U.S., Mexico and Canada — at a private Republican fundraiser Wednesday. Trump also stated that he would drop the letter “C” if Canada doesn’t agree to the changes he is seeking, according to sources.

When asked whether the name change — along with the removal of Canada from the trade deal — is a realistic threat at a press conference, Trudeau said, “I don’t think [negotiators have] spent much time talking about what the name, or potential name, or renaming could be.

https://globalnews.ca/news/4446347/donal...afta-usmc/