A trade war with Canada? Donald Trump is angry that our neighbors are hurting “Wisconsin and other border states”
A trade war with Canada? Donald Trump is angry that our neighbors are hurting “Wisconsin and other border states”
After attacking our neighbors to the south over "unfair trade policies" — Trump pivots to our northern neighbors VIDEO
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Topics: Canada , Donald Trump , partner video , trade policy , trade war , Politics News , Video News , News
President Donald Trump has long had a chip on his shoulder about American trade policy , and now it looks like that policy obsession is going to strain one of America’s closest bilateral relationships.
The first hints of Trump’s new approach toward Canada became evident last week , when he began to complain about that country’s competition with America in specific industries.
“We can’t let Canada or anybody else take advantage and do what they did to our workers and to our farmers,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday. “Included in there is lumber, timber and energy. We’re going to have to get to the negotiating table with Canada very, very quickly.”
The president later added, “Canada, what they’ve done to our dairy farm workers, is a disgrace. It’s a disgrace. Rules, regulations, different things have changed — and our farmers in Wisconsin and New York state are being put out of business.”
Trump repeated this last complaint via Twitter on Tuesday.
frameborder="0">On Monday, Trump added policy to back up his words by imposing tariffs as high as 24 percent on Canadian softwood lumber, according to a report by Bloomberg . A reporter from Breitbart tweeted that Trump had said, “We’re going to be putting a 20 percent tax on softwood lumber coming in — tariff on softwood coming into the United States from Canada.”
In a hint that this may be part of a larger plan by Trump to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement that includes America and Canada, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross condemned Canada’s trade policies involving the dairy and lumber industries in a statement that contended, “This is not our idea of a properly functioning Free Trade Agreement.”
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Effective tomorrow we will no longer buy hockey pucks from Canada.
Just so it doesn't affect Curling.
That could start a real war....Damn it.
Gentleman freeze your rocks.
Will this affect lacrosse in anyway?
No it won't Steve. It's the Creator's game.
This article does a lot better job of explaining what the backstory and reasons for the retaliatory tariff on the lumber is really about.
It's really not much different than Obamas tariff on Chinese steel.
Even that article doesn't say anything about the fact that the issue has been brought before world courts such as the WTO a number of times AND EVERY TIME THE USA LOST. So who is right? The only way the USA will get its way is to bully Canada.
As I've said elsewhere, China hungers for wood, and would be happy to cover the shipping of Canadian softwood lumber and timber to get their hands on it. Let the Americans ravage their own forests - Trump's view of caring for the environment sure as hell won't stop it.
Oh, and if the USA is successful in its screwing of Canada, the price of American homes will rise due to the increased lumber costs which will be inevitable. I understand that hundreds of thousands of Americans wouid no longer afford a home. Too fucking bad.
Dean, the lumber wars with Canada have been going on since the 1980's. This is nothing new.
We import softwoods from Canada at the same time we export softwoods to Asian.
Interesting.
China is begging for lumber and timber, and would probably be happy to pay the shipping. Let the US ravage its own forests, and let Canada buy its oranges, grapefruit, pineapples and other foods from Mexico, the Caribbean and elsewhere. In the late great Leonard Cohen's famous song "Suzanne" there is this line: "She feeds you tea and oranges that come all the way from China." The oranges grown here are delicious, and kinds like Mandarins that in North America are usually only obtained in cans are fresh and sweet. If Trump wants a trade war with its second largest trading partner, so be it. Fire away.
Canada's lumber stocks surged today as a sigh of relief. The tariffs were expected to be much worse. This has been in the works for a long time now.
Shares of Canadian lumber companies surged Tuesday after the U.S. administration’s tariffs on softwood lumber turned out to be less severe than some analysts had predicted .
The tariffs of as much as 24 percent prompted a rally in Canadian lumber stocks. West Fraser Timber Co. rose as much as 10.5 percent, the biggest gain in six months. Canfor Corp. rallied 10.2 percent, the most since Jan. 22, and Interfor Corp. gained 4.7 percent.
“There’s a bit of a relief rally today,” RBC Capital Markets analyst Paul Quinn said by phone. “There was always a fear in the marketplace and that led to higher lumber prices.”
Send durian, Buzz.
Perhaps not many Americans are as knowledgeable about durian as you are Kavika. Most durian is imported by China as little is grown in Hainan Island, the most southerly area of China, and Thailand exports the most of it. However, some is imported to the USA although I assume it is not readily available because of its cost.
"China is the major importer, purchasing 65,000 tonnes in 1999, followed by Singapore with 40,000 tonnes and Taiwan with 5,000 tonnes. In the same year, the United States imported 2,000 tonnes , mostly frozen, and the European Community imported 500 tonnes."
It could be a challenge for customs officers, considering its resemblance to wartime mines.
It is by far the best tasting fruit you can eat...But, there is always a but...It is the worst smelling fruit in existence, bar none.
Many of the high end resturants in Singapore will not serve it because of the smell. We used to go to ''China Town'' in Singapore and buy durian.
Perhaps not many Americans are as knowledgeable about durian as you are Kavika.
I've never eaten it, but I've seen it for sale in Whole Foods Market.
I have no idea what it is and I have been in Whole Foods dozens of times....
We don't have a Whole Foods in the area that I live in, Krish. But I would sure like to see some stores carrying it.
Good to see all the support for John Mackey and Whole Foods he's a hardcore libertarian.
So, I guess my future retirement home is looking more like rammed earth or recycled tires. Of course, cinder block doesn't make a bad wall with some rebar and concrete reinforcement.
Do you think Lumber Liquidators might be the stock to buy now?
Build a Tiny House on wheels and then the cost of the materials will be minimum for nearly whatever you use. Though not rammed earth or recycled tires.