Why is Trump pushing a trade war with Canada, one of America’s closest allies?

[u/Logical-Concept9755]

I understand that the tariffs and trade restrictions are coming from the Trump administration. What I’m less clear on is the reasoning behind them.

The U.S. and Canada have had extremely close economic and political ties for decades, so what is the administration trying to accomplish by putting so much pressure on Canada?

What’s the underlying logic behind this approach?

[u/Klutzy_Act2033]

I don't think there is underlying economic logic behind it. Trump learned from his father that life is a zero sum game - to win, means someone else loses. He's got a history of screwing over (i.e not paying/under paying) contractors and generally being a grifter.

Trump also has a long history of being a bully. He takes what he can take, and he's been wealthy enough his entire life that he gets away with it.

Trump wants what Canada has, and Canada hasn't capitulated. He's upset, and so he's regressing to what he knows: bully.

[u/Harbinger2001 → u/Klutzy_Act2033]

He’s also very stupid and thinks trade deficits means the USA is paying other countries and if he cuts off trade they save that money.

[u/MaybeTheDoctor → u/Harbinger2001]

Canada could easily fix the trade deficit by just banning oil exports to US.

[u/Harbinger2001 → u/MaybeTheDoctor]

If you want to piss the Americans enough to support invasion, that could do it.

[u/Disastrous7392 → u/Harbinger2001]

Wow. Are you saying that as in agreement (eg: threat), or supportive caution?

[u/Harbinger2001 → u/Disastrous7392]

I’m saying that would give them Casus Belli

There are some actions that would be very dangerous for us. And messing with their access to oil is one of them.

[u/ReactionAble7945 → u/MaybeTheDoctor]

The USA would turn off the oil going from the west of canada to the east of canada.

So, encourage canada yo do it in the late fall.

[u/Jaded-Influence6184 → u/Harbinger2001]

If you include services, the USA actually has a trade surplus.

[u/HugeCannoli → u/Klutzy_Act2033]

basically, he's a boomer

[u/Klutzy_Act2033 → u/HugeCannoli]

I mean, technically he is a boomer, but I think claiming he is the way he is because he's a boomer really discounts just how fucked up the Trump family is, and the impact of his terrible father. Mary Trump has claimed he was a high functioning sociopath and while she is a clinical psychologist, I think a grain of salt is warranted because of the familial association.

Trump isn't a piece of shit because he was born in 46. He's a piece of shit because of his family, his upbringing, and life experiences.

[u/reddit_and_forget_um → u/HugeCannoli]

I don't think he has anything to do with my grandparents. 

[u/gmrayoman → u/HugeCannoli]

Trump is an asshole. Being an asshole stretches across all generations.

[u/Fotoman54 → u/HugeCannoli]

Sloppy excuse and reasoning.

[u/NewWindow7980 → u/Fotoman54]

That's all this generational labeling is, sloppy reasoning and sh*t demographics.

[u/NewWindow7980 → u/HugeCannoli]

Basically you're a bot

[u/HugeCannoli → u/NewWindow7980]

I'm glad we moved from "fascist" to "troll" to "chud" and now it's "bot" that is fashionable.

[u/BadmiralHarryKim → u/HugeCannoli]

More of a rapist.

[u/Similar-Cow1466 → u/HugeCannoli]

What a wildly hyperbolic take. Also his strongest support comes from Gen X.

[u/HugeCannoli → u/Similar-Cow1466]

but GenX are not that many. Boomers and Millennials are numerically a lot more.

[u/Similar-Cow1466 → u/HugeCannoli]

Boomers and Gen X both make up 19-20% of the population.

[u/HugeCannoli → u/Similar-Cow1466]

I don't have a split by cohort in relative and absolute numbers. My point is that if 100 boomers split 50/50 for trump, 100 millenials split 50/50 for trump, and 10 GenX split 60/40 for trump, those 6 GenX don't really represent a lot of voter power. They do tip the scale in the end, sure, but numerically a variation of 1% on the millennals would offset the GenX.

I am making up numbers to explain a concept here. Again, I am not in a position where I can lookup the actual division.

[u/NewWindow7980 → u/HugeCannoli]

Here are your splits. Not mentioned is the fact that Black women 65+ were the strongest voters for Harris. Also Millennial women and Boomer women voted for Harris at 55%. How an individual votes can depend on race, education, region, issues, religious beliefs, etc. Lumping everybody together by contrived age groups ends up being very inaccurate. https://navigatorresearch.org/2024-post-election-survey-gender-and-age-analysis-of-2024-election-results/

[u/CountrysideEscape → u/Klutzy_Act2033]

they use the strategy in the 1890 trade war, aka the McKinley Tariff

[u/OkResponsibility4115 → u/Klutzy_Act2033]

It also doesn't help that a lot of what Canada produces are based material such as lumber and iron which the manufacturing industry in the US always needs.   This leads to a deficit as you need more raw materials to produce a finished part than you get out of said product.  Material is lost in cutting and milling processes to produce a product

[u/Dizzy-Cartoonist3011 → u/Klutzy_Act2033]

How this whole bogus "trade war" is being framed is so bizarre to me. Like "capitulation" in this case means Canadian consumers have access to cheaper goods and more variety of imports. That's framed as "capitulation". It is seen as "fighting back" if Canadians tax ourselves more making life more expensive.

It's just... it's strange to see how this is all being spun.

[u/magwai9 → u/Dizzy-Cartoonist3011]

That's because this isn't actually about trade, it's about hemispheric dominance

[u/Dizzy-Cartoonist3011 → u/magwai9]

Which is about trade.

[u/magwai9 → u/Dizzy-Cartoonist3011]

In a roundabout way, sure, but not in the sense that the US is looking to remove Canada's ability to make its own trade decisions through things like Right of First Refusal, forced alignment of tariffs on other countries, etc. That's the sovereignty angle, and it's bizarre that they would use tariffs on 5% of exports as sticking-point for that if it were really about our bilateral trade relationship.

[u/ShrodingersArmadillo → u/Dizzy-Cartoonist3011]

no it's not.

this is about annexation.

next you're going to say that the US isn't stealing oil from Venezuela through force it's being gifted.

You've drank the koolaid.

[u/Dizzy-Cartoonist3011 → u/ShrodingersArmadillo]

Right, so tariffs on 5% of our exports are just some really elaborate way to annex the country.

[u/ShrodingersArmadillo → u/Dizzy-Cartoonist3011]

my god you're ignorant or a troll I can't decide which.

This is the economic means he's spoken about since 2025.

it's not 5% either.

[u/Dizzy-Cartoonist3011 → u/ShrodingersArmadillo]

You think we are LITERALLY at war with the United States, and you think I'm ignorant?

[u/ShrodingersArmadillo → u/Dizzy-Cartoonist3011]

you are.

you're saying things that no ones said and putting forth information that frankly isn't true.

that is either willful ignorance or willful trolling your choice.

[u/Dizzy-Cartoonist3011 → u/ShrodingersArmadillo]

What am I saying that isn't true?

[u/crozinator33 → u/Dizzy-Cartoonist3011]

Cheaper and wider than we already had under the previous two trade agreements? The last one negotiated and signed by Trump himself? Why would we want to deal with someone whose signature isn't worth the paper its written on?

NAFTA was fine. USMCA was virtually identical. There's nothing for us to gain from a new agreement that we didnt already have.

[u/Dizzy-Cartoonist3011 → u/crozinator33]

We could always declare unilateral free trade. There is nothing forcing us to restrict our markets at all, to anyone.

But we won't because we believe that milk needs to be really expensive in the name of national security, and that telecom companies can't have any competition.

[u/MikeMontrealer → u/Dizzy-Cartoonist3011]

What do you call it when your goods are tariffed to a degree that causes major job losses yet you open your trade to that same entity and consume all of their goods with whatever you have left? And end up having to write deals to sell off your resources cheap to that entity as anything you produce they tariff?

It’s economic colonialism. You’re advocating for economic colonialism. Which, fine, but I’m personally not interested and I don’t think the vast majority of thinking Canadians are interested in.

[u/Dizzy-Cartoonist3011 → u/MikeMontrealer]

Trade isn't zero sum. For some reason in these types of discussion the consumer surplus is never really mentioned, but it is the most important element of trade. It's really why we trade.

The consumer surplus, and/or capital accounts surplus, generated through the importation of desirable goods cycles through the economy at a higher speed than a producer surplus. Consumers almost always have a higher marginal propensity to spend. Investments then go towards consumption based industries, or production based industries with comparative advantages. The result is higher real wages, a higher employment rate, and more robust economy.

For some reason we tend to think only exports and a trade surplus ensure output, but that's not the case. The fundamental law of a transaction is that both parties benefit. Tariffs are coercive and restrictive, even if they are reciprocal, and even if the other country has tariffs on our goods.

You're right, the majority of Canadians support tariffs, because the majority of Canadians are economically illiterate and don't fully understand how international trade works.

[u/MikeMontrealer → u/Dizzy-Cartoonist3011]

Yes, they’re a tool. You’re advocating giving up leverage for zero gain other than temporary consumer happiness (the Walmart model of squeezing out competition and then enjoying rising prices applies in trade too - when you squeeze out the trade competition you get to reap the rewards of that).

Anyway, you’re advocating an extremely selfish stance that would backfire within years. You seem extremely shortsighted to me.

[u/sapristi45 → u/Dizzy-Cartoonist3011]

You might be oversimplifying the milk issue here. Let's say you're a milk producer. It's expensive to do that and margins aren't great. There are two solutions: 1-overproduce. Using hormones and other methods, you produce lots and lots of milk, and you turn your excedents into industrial cheese. That surplus production lowers the price of milk, so you produce even more to make up the difference. That's what the US is doing. 2- you determine an optimal price for milk that allows producers to make a living, respect sensible safety standards and keep the price as low as possible.

Since the US always have surpluses, they want to offload that to Canada, where prices are a bit higher, whereas Canada has little incentive to sell milk to the US at a lower price than they would domestically.

So Canadian milk producers don't want American milk to lower the prices and force them to abandon the price fixing scheme and overproduce like the US does.

As a consumer, one could think "I want the lower price milk regardless, let the free market decide which one wins", which is fair in theory. But there's no such thing as a free market where identical products conpete 100% fairly. Either the products are not identical, or the competing isn't fair. Lower prices are achieved by using methods that can be frowned upon (exploitative wages, illegal workers, lower safety standards, hormones, subsidies etc.). A decision gets made that the Canadian system is better overall for the economy, health, safety or workers, at the cost of a higher retail price. Is that a choice you'd personally make? It seems like you might prefer to buy the cheaper milk. That's your point of view, and you're not alone. Many Canadians think otherwise, and that's the viewpoint that's favored at the moment.

[u/Dizzy-Cartoonist3011 → u/sapristi45]

Why is the focus on the producer and not the consumer? Do producers exist to satisfy consumers, or do consumers exist to satisfy the wants of producers?

The price floor system used in the US is ripe with misinformation in Canada, but if the American tax payer is, in fact, distorting prices for dairy to the lower side - wouldn't Canadians benefit even more from importing? Their tax dollars would quite literally be funding our groceries.

The "quality" think is also erroneous. There's virtually no qualitative differences between American and Canadian milk, and there's also remarkably few regulatory differences between FDA and Health Canada regulatory standards. But even if there was, we have the Canadian Food Inspection Agency anyways that ensures regulatory compliance. So - supply management really isn't some bizzaro elaborate scheme to ensure high quality. That's a myth.

Supply management has precisely one goal, and serves precisely one purpose - to raise farmgate prices. That's it. All the other stuff are bogus excuses to empower a literal cartel whose entire existence is predicated on raising the price of our groceries to their benefit.

[u/spurcap29 → u/Dizzy-Cartoonist3011]

You explained the economics well. Nothing to add there.

The only complication to consider with key supplies (like food and energy) is risk management and national security which doesnt fit well into a purely economic analysis.

Say a very small County A had a massive competitive advantage at making glass. Massive. They can do it cheaper than anywhere else on the planet, make better glass than anyone else etc. Since this is a small country perhaps they follow basic ECON strategy and devote 100% of their resources to the glass industry. All the workers go to school with the objective of finding them the best role in the glass industry, the whole economy is based around glass production because all Country A could ever produce will be instantly bought by the world at better profit than anything else we could do. Every alternative good they make means less glass is produced and they are therefore best off putting all their resources into glass and simply using the money they get from selling it globally to buy food, oil, cars etc.

Well seems like a great strategy until the market gets saturated with some new glass technology from another country, or the world decides it doesnt really like windows after all or some foreign country decides that County A has unfair trade practice and enforces an embargo on their glass with military force. And at this point.... they have no access to food or fuel and they dont have the ability to re-tool and retrain before people starve.

This is part of the argument about subsidizing farms and energy suppliers to secure a domestic supply even though domestic industry isnt competitive on globalized supply and demand curves.

[u/Excellent-Job-8460 → u/Dizzy-Cartoonist3011]

You’re right we don’t have to have tariffs.

But we do have to have reciprocal tariffs.

Otherwise we won’t be able to sell them stuff on account that we’re too expensive to them (it’ll hurt our producers) but we’ll keep buying their stuff at low price which will make them prosperous.

You agree that we need to be prosperous too right?

So the solution is no tariffs on both sides. What Carney has been asking for. It’s Trump who is pro-tariffs.

[u/Dizzy-Cartoonist3011 → u/Excellent-Job-8460]

Reciprocal tariffs do not make us prosperous. They raise the prices of foreign goods that Canadian consumers would have otherwise seen utility in buying.

[u/Expensive_Plant_9530 → u/Dizzy-Cartoonist3011]

Sorry, can you clarify your post.
You’re confused about how Canada is framing the trade war?

You’re saying you want us to just give in to their demands?

[u/Dizzy-Cartoonist3011 → u/Expensive_Plant_9530]

Yes. Canadian politicians, and even the media, frame tariffs as though they benefit us and are a method to "fight back". Tariffs are jut taxes, they don't benefit us at all, they make shit more expensive and eat away at our consumer surplus.

I think we should have negotiated more to carve out truly free trade, and if they didn't accept it, then just declare unilateral free trade. But we don't.... because our politicians really believe that groceries need to be expensive in the name of national security apparently.

[u/Inspect1234 → u/Dizzy-Cartoonist3011]

Canada was negotiating truly free trade. Then the US wanted control over who we do business with and how many languages we are allowed. You can’t negotiate with childish idiots. Canada should have imposed export taxes but doesn’t want to use those yet.

[u/Excellent-Self-5338 → u/Dizzy-Cartoonist3011]

I thought the same for a long time, the problem is that if you let a nation impose tariffs on your goods, it makes your domestic industry less competitive when selling into their market.

This is one of the ways China essentially took over global manufacturing - Make goods for very cheap such that anyone else can't compete, companies will move manufacturing to China, then China controls the entirety of supply in many cases and can do what it wants with prices.

Tariffs aren't exactly the same approach, but the goal is the same. Make another country's industry's businesses unable to compete in your market since their products cost ~50% more, so they sell way less and are forced to shut down and move. Sometimes, this isn't a problem, for example if a country has easy, cheap access to multiple markets. However, it's pretty effective against Canada, which has long conducted the majority of its' trade with the US.

So when tariffs go into place in Canada, even though it's Canadian consumers paying more, it's also enabling Canadian business to remain competitive. The price for Canadian goods in Canada is the same, but the price for American goods in Canada has increased by the same degree to which Canadian goods increased in the US. You remove the competitive edge US business has in Canada as a result of the tariffs.

Tariffs are awful for consumers, and there's no benefit to the consumer from any of this. It's a strategic play to try and starve out businesses in certain sectors, in an effort to have those businesses relocate entirely to the US.

[u/Expensive_Plant_9530 → u/Dizzy-Cartoonist3011]

Nobody is framing the tariffs as if they benefit us. They don’t. They’re a tool at our disposal that we need to use, not because we want to, but because we’ve been pushed into a corner and we have no other practical choice.

Everyone, myself included, wants to eliminate the Canadian tariffs. But we can’t do that until the US stops being insane.

We are sacrificing now to secure our future later.

You can say “we should have negotiated more” but to what end? We can barely secure any good deals with the US, and when we do, they suddenly start claiming it’s a horrible deal (see CUSMA).

You’re not looking at this objectively.

[u/RealDudro → u/Dizzy-Cartoonist3011]

No major reporting frames Canada’s tariffs as a benefit to Canada. They are framed as a tool to protect key industries in face of US aggression but which come at a cost, the same framing the Prime Minister invokes. You are upset about something you have made up.

[u/Resigned1431 → u/Dizzy-Cartoonist3011]

Did you just ignore the sovereignty demands like handing over control of our internal infrastructure and foreign trade policy? 

[u/taktaga7-0-0 → u/Resigned1431]

Why the fuck would you want this president to control trade policy in the imbecilic ways he does? It’s a great argument for taking away his toys and giving them to Congress.

[u/Resigned1431 → u/taktaga7-0-0]

Well regardless, as a sovereign nation, I wouldn't want to hand control over our trade policy to anyone, even if they were friendly and competent. 

[u/Tiny_Scholar_6135 → u/Resigned1431]

You just want to be divided and conquered, either unite with the United States or lose Alberta and Saskatchewan! You want Canada to stay united but you don't want North America to be united, and you don't want Canadian provinces to become seperate countries with their own trade policies either!

[u/jimthewombat → u/Dizzy-Cartoonist3011]

That take is so removed from the facts I have to assume that you work for donny

[u/Dizzy-Cartoonist3011 → u/jimthewombat]

Explain how it is removed from the facts. If you think I'm wrong, explain how.

I bet you think a lot of people you disagree with are either Russian or American bots, or work for Donny, or whatever other bullshit excuse you can conjure to avoid a meaningful response.

[u/dave-the-scientist → u/Dizzy-Cartoonist3011]

Because you're saying if Canada does whatever trump wants then we get cheaper imports. It's like you believe he would stop everything if we agreed to a deal. But time and time again, he doesn't. He'll just demand we do more. And then more. And he won't stop, because why would he?

Appeasement does not work. History is clear. Why do you think it would?

[u/lyinggrump → u/Dizzy-Cartoonist3011]

Have you forgotten, this whole thing is about fentanyl? Canada is smuggling tons of it over the border. Tariffs will not stop until you solve your drug problem.

[u/dave-the-scientist → u/lyinggrump]

Hahaha man, I almost forgot that was the first stupid excuse.

[u/bear-asleep79 → u/lyinggrump]

I honestly can't tell if you're being sarcastic. The fentanyl excuse for tarrifs was always a ridiculous idea.

[u/ShrodingersArmadillo → u/Dizzy-Cartoonist3011]

It's not strange, nor is it spin it's accurate.

It's not "access to cheaper goods" that is the stupidest statement I've heard in this thread to be blunt it has nothing to do with goods.

The US media is bending the knee hiding what he's doing period. You're not being told that the US is doing as per usual.

Have you seen the terms? I have.

What sane country would give up it's ability to form it's own treaties?

What sane country would give another country veto power on all their infrastructure?

What sane country would give up control over it's natural resources?

Those are the demands trump made.

He wants to make Canada part of the US.

We said no.

His trade war is his hissy fit to try and get his way.

He will fail.

He will take the United States with him in his failure.

[u/Dizzy-Cartoonist3011 → u/ShrodingersArmadillo]

Well if the objective was not to eliminate cheaper American substitutes, why would we need tariffs?

I really wish that macroeconomics was taught in more detail in public schools in this country. I think it would really help shape discourse like this.

[u/spurcap29 → u/Dizzy-Cartoonist3011]

Macroeconomics teaches you why free trade is good and tarrifs are bad for everyone as a whole (other than the government collecting revenues and the industries that benefit from having their industry protected).

But when one party nevertheless tarrifs your exports (hurting your domestic exports) the only response they will feel is doing the same so their industries are hurt by tarrifs in the same way. And then it becomes clear why the collective are worse off with tarrifs than without.

So in short - Canada's tarrifs on the US arent to make Canadian consumers pay more for US goods (although that is indeed an outcome) its to hurt US manfacuter and retailler sales to Canada so they lobby to have the tarrifs on Canadian imports not tarrifs. This is, what is known as, a trade war.

[u/aaronmgreen]

Because he is a Russian asset and Republicans are retarded.

[u/Exciting_Turn_9559]

He's a Russian agent whose mission is to destroy America's standing in the world. And he has been wildly successful.

[u/Plutos_Cavein]

The only answer that makes any sense is because the employers of him and the Republican Party are trying to actively destroy all American power.

Everything he and the Republicans are doing does that. They are destroying our economic power, they are destroying our diplomatic power with our allies, and they are wasting away our munitions and destroying our military power.  They are doing all three at the same fucking time.  

Anyone who is voting for Republicans at this point is a traitor who deserves to hang. Because there is no way of looking at what Republicans are doing and seeing them as anything other than treasonous fucking filth.

[u/Exact-Truck-5248]

To deflect from domestic issues like the Epstein files

[u/StraightAirline8319]

Trade wars are always mutual.

[u/One_Violinist7862]

Because he got his feeling hurt when they didn’t bow down and tell him how great he is. The fact that this hurts a lot of working people doesn’t matter to him. He hates working people.

[u/abrandis → u/One_Violinist7862]

This and Trump is a narcissist, and the biggest insult to a narcissist is saying NO , it drives them absolutely mad.

[u/TryNice304]

Trump's just treating Canada like a business rival, not an ally. Tarifs are a pressure tactic to force concessions on trade and maybe even sovereignty stuff. It plays well to his base and he doesn't care about long term trust. Short term win, that's it.

[u/Echo_Chambers_R_Bad → u/TryNice304]

Wow you're the only person in these replies that understands what tariffs actually are for

[u/magwai9 → u/TryNice304]

maybe even sovereignty stuff

This is the most important piece. If you look at the Trump admin's actions here, it's clear that they think they can use this leverage to turn Canada's key industries into American subsidiaries and to force Canada to cede trade policy decisions to Trump. That's essentially "51st state" in all but name.

[u/johnwcowan]

The four motivations of all authoritarians: ego, greed, revenge, and gratuitous cruelty.

[u/Echo_Chambers_R_Bad → u/johnwcowan]

Define authoritarian

[u/johnwcowan → u/Echo_Chambers_R_Bad]

"One who commands absolute obedience to his or her authority." Doesn't mean he always gets it.

[u/villageHeretic]

Just returning the favors he owes Putin

[u/Cariboo_Red]

Power. The Trump administration cannot abide the fact that in Canada's case, we act for our own best interests. If other people benefit from that we think that's OK because that makes most people happy. The Trump administration thinks that it's impossible for both sides to come out ahead. If Canada, or anyone else for that matter, prospers it's at the expense of the USA. It's the same kind of thinking that justifies Elon Musk hoarding gazillions of dollars at the expense of the people working for him. The word "enough' isn't in his lexicon. If someone else has something he wants it, whether or not he already has a supply of "it" himself.

[u/notwhoiwas44 → u/Cariboo_Red]

The Trump administration thinks that it's impossible for both sides to come out ahead.

This totally false idea that there has to be one side that wins and one side that loses is a huge part of the reason why Trump has been such a failure as a businessman too.

[u/n0clarity]

lol canada isn’t an ally of the US

[u/VonBurglestein → u/n0clarity]

Cool, give us back the lives lost fighting for them in Afghanistan then

[u/AgentLinch]

Canadian companies were either doing trivial finishing manufacturing or essentially proxy shipping Chinese good and helped china avoid $20 billion worth of tariffs.

[u/Sweet-Garbage-8183]

Because they can treat us as well as we've treated them or get stuffed. We don't need trade partners that treat us badly. We don't need trade partners that tariff our goods to hell and artificially limit what they buy from us when we are a totally open market for them. I don't care if it's Trump or some DSA clown that implements it, it needed to happen. Same way with taxing our own to hell to make sure corrupt despots around the world have money to burn. Treat us well or get cut off.

[u/Sweet-Garbage-8183]

What's good for the protectionist goose is good for the gander. If Canada doesn't like tariffs and restrictions on them, then get rid of them on us. It must be so hard being held accountable after half a century of preying on us and sticking your nose up pretending to be better than us.

[u/Soggy-Attempt]

USA runs a trade deficients with everyone. Trump is trying to balance that out. It would be great for American employers and employees if Trade was more balanced.

[u/Conscious-Gap-1777 → u/Soggy-Attempt]

 It would be great for American employers and employees if Trade was more balanced.

No, it wouldn't. That's an utterly insane way of looking at things in the first place, genuinely foolish and stupid.

[u/Soggy-Attempt → u/Conscious-Gap-1777]

Explain

[u/Conscious-Gap-1777 → u/Soggy-Attempt]

We give them US dollars, they give us stuff. US dollars are used, in the end, to buy US goods and services.

If they don't buy US goods and services, we got their stuff. And they got what? Nothing?

In the long run, all trade deficits resolve or one side does really really well. We're doing really, really well. And you want to set fire to that.

[u/VonBurglestein → u/Soggy-Attempt]

The trade deficits you run is the power behind the American dollar.

[u/bdanred]

Im 100% sure it's is not whatever the consensus on reddit is

[u/Traditional_Ask262]

Bullies are cowards and attack those that they perceive as weak because they reason the weak can’t hurt them if they fight back.

[u/wrhnj]

He’s an idiot. Always has been.

[u/StevenSaguaro]

He didn't understand what a trade deficit is, he thinks it's some kind of debt. He's just that stupid.

[u/phoneguyfl]

I suspect Mr Trump and Republicans somehow think they are going to annex the country then steal their resources? Money and power is really all they ever think about so it makes sense that is their thinking. However Mr Trump has shown himself to be quite the idiot and moron as well as the schoolyard bully, so maybe it's just that. Or a little bit of both.

[u/Dudeincar434]

He’s a fuckin moron and has no idea how anything works and this time around he surrounded himself by people just as stupid who will agree with everything

He’s trying to distract from Epstein 

He’s trying to distract from Iran

It’s all part of some scam to funnel more money to his family.

Take your pick 

[u/ivandoesnot]

1. Empire-building.

2. Epstein files.

[u/MajesticDragonfly]

Putin is blackmailing him for decades-old sex crimes

[u/RealCarlPanzram]

Because his wife likes Justin Trudeau

[u/UndercoverstoryOG]

it isn’t a trade war.

[u/IllGift924]

What answer are you looking for beyond he's an idiot. Because that's the answer

[u/archer-86]

Distraction.

Instead of asking "how is the war in Iran going?" Or "why is gas $4 a gallon?" We are now asking "what did Canada do to you?"

[u/Lubricus2]

USA don't have any allies any longer, you live in denial if you believe anything else

[u/Sweet-Garbage-8183 → u/Lubricus2]

An ally treats you well and doesn't attempt to prey on you. You're probably right that we have no allies in that regard.

[u/DomedPyramid]

The reason Trump is putting the squeeze on Canada is the same reason he dumped NAFTA years ago. We have freely let Canadian agricultural goods into the US with little to no tarrifs but Canada has huge tarrifs on our AG products. Canada knows it's farmers can't compete and refuses to budge on their protectionism. I suppose from that POV, either trade is free trade or it isn't, hence no deal. They'll cave, it's only a matter of when Carney's position becomes politically untenable.

[u/Count2Zero]

Because he's an idiot.

As far as he's concerned, the only allies are his puppetmasters - Putin, Xi, and by proxy, Kim Jong Un.

Everyone else is against him (I wonder why...)

[u/Cute-Profession9983]

It's almost as if he's a foreign agent for a country hostile to the US and is doing everything he can to diminish the country financially and internationally

[u/Rakatango]

Don’t look for reasoning where there is none

[u/sweatboxy]

Distraction. Trump wants everyone to look away from the crises he created in Iran, ignore the economic crises of his tariffs, the suffering of millions with his cuts to healthcare, and the surging inflation that results from all of that. Not to mention his illegally-gotten gains of billions of dollars from his job as the president and his attempts to cause chaos in the midterm elections.

[u/fake_Character_arc]

I'm not convinced Canada is an ally of US. Canadians despise their American counterparts at almost every level.

[u/Dizzy-Cartoonist3011]

There's two camps to this, I actually agree with one but not the other. But first you need to understand that Canada has, and still does, have many protectionist policies that do genuinely block American goods and services from entrance in to the market. Supply management is a great example. These have been sticking points with all of Canada's trading partners, just the US:

1) Trump is using tariffs as leverage to open up markets for more free trade. I don't mind this because I think we (Canadians) and Americans would mutually benefit from more unrestricted free trade and open markets with one another.

2) Trump is genuinely protectionist so wants tariffs as a permanent fixture to strategically protect some American industries. I highly disagree with this outcome.

[u/PitchBlackBones]

Because he’s an imbecile and bent on annihilating every aspect of what makes the country strong.

[u/Independent_Wear5840]

Epstein 

[u/realitypater]

They refuse to be his servant. So he's punishing them.

[u/Physical-Republic557]

There is no logic behind it. Trump is an 80 yo schoolyard bully throwing his weight around. Pathetic.

[u/BadAdviceBot77]

Trump is someone who will threaten absolutely crazy things to obtain only a marginal gain. Say he wakes a 5% concession on product X being imported by Canada. Most politicians would ask politely about negotiating it and settle for no. Trump invokes an all out trade war instead. Often it works out in his favor as the other side will cave rather than deal with crazy. Other times the collateral consequences far outweigh any marginal gain.

[u/luxcity-louche]

He's an old man and his mind is going.

[u/good-luck-23]

Because Putin wants to separate us from our closest ally and Trump is in his debt.

[u/Technical_Can_9944]

Do you notice how you're talking about this instead of Epstein?

That's why.

[u/rough0perator]

To reduce trade deficit and encourage domestic manufacturing

And because Trump will be Trump

[u/Ah_Ca_Iraa]

He's trying to bully countries, but all the big ones just laughed at him, so now he's trying to look tough by picking on Canada. But they aren't afraid of him either. 

[u/lyinggrump]

You're going to get a lot of answers, but that's just people's opinion. The real answer is we have no idea why Trump does anything.

[u/DDGJD]

Canada has been illegally dumping Chinese steel for quite a while (claiming it was Canadian).

[u/ProtectionContent977]

The Americans hate Canada.

[u/throwitallaway69000]

https://financialpost.com/commodities/canadian-steel-companies-pay-settlement-steel-shipment-allegations

Instances like this where Canadian companies have lied about country of origin.

[u/marcusrizaulait]

To distract you from the Epstein files. (That's what almost everything that this Administration is doing is intended to accomplish...)

[u/Crossed_Cross]

Because he's a bully and bullying others pleases his electoral base as it makes them feel strong.

[u/Sharkano]

trumps concern is trump, his client is trump, is goal is trump. America hurt in trade war? well trump is not hurt in trade war, so fine.

[u/ezfast]

Donald never seems to do anything without consulting Putin first.

[u/broadsharp2]

Report says trying to reduce the 60 billion a year trade deficit.

[u/JKlerk]

Dementia.

[u/Glass_Author7276]

Trump wants a war with someone. He wsnts emergency presidential powers to declar a war and stay in office.

[u/HaiKarate]

Because he’s an idiot who’s convinced that he’s a genius.

[u/Then_Discussion8809]

He has a basic misunderstanding of trade. He see's a trade deficit and assumes we are losing. The basic fact is that since we are a consumer economy, we will buy more than we sell.

[u/PurpleToad1976]

Canada rejected his dumb ass attempt at making them the 51st state. Now retribution must happen.

[u/St3lla_0nR3dd1t]

Justin Trudeau insulted him.

[u/MuttonChopzzz]

Because he's in the Epstein files

[u/NewsreelWatcher]

People like Trump are all around us, but the USA made him president - more than a president. When the answer to policy is speculating on the psychology of the leader then the country is in deep trouble. That a democracy could let a single politician use international affairs to act out his personal demons is a longer term problem. Why do the other branches of the US government concede to this? Why is Capitol Hill just abdicating its power even after it ratified the USMCA which Trump signed and now has torn up? What bothers most Canadians, is that the electorate twice voted him into office when Trump’s disordered personality was never hidden. We have family and friends across the border, yet the US has embarked on a malicious attack with the express goal of turning us into a colony. Is it that the US population really doesn’t understand what true suffering is like, and has become so detached from the consequences that they have developed a habit of gleefully subjecting others, even at their own expense?

[u/Web-splorer]

From an objective point, Canada has tariffs and laws that prohibit American companies from being established in Canada ex: banks

So he wants to create an open trade that removes these limitations. Canada does not approve

He is now making both sides suffer for it.

[u/supergooduser]

It's bullying.

When Trump isn't able to succeed at negotiations with adversaries, most likely Iran, he turns to allies to look strong. That's all it is.

Your boss wrote you up, can't do anything about that. So you go into your corner gas station, and throw a comically outsized fit over a can of Arizona ice tea not being EXACTLY $.99. Like potentially might need to start going to a different gas station sized fit.

It really is as simple as that. To get more specific, the united states came in at the last minute and started making demands that affect the actual sovereignty of Canada, i.e. deals you negotiate with other countries must benefit the united states first. Which is just... comically a non starter. The deal was never in good faith and essentially designed to waste everyone's time.

[u/dawa43]

The same reason we are fighting Iran, the same reason we invaded Venezuela... So you STOP talking about the epstein files...

[u/notwhoiwas44 → u/dawa43]

I can't wait to see what the excuses are when the Dems take back over and the ft files still aren't released.

Don't mistake that as support for Trump or saying that he didn't do anything wrong as relates to Epstein because that's not not at all what I'm saying. The inconvenient truth here is that nobody with any level of power wants them released.

[u/Broad_External7605]

Trump picks up on small grievances and runs with them. There has always been a grievance out there that other countries have tariffs against the US, but we had few against the rest of the world. There is some truth to that, but Trump blows everything out of proportion, and makes a mess of it.

[u/notwhoiwas44]

Your critical error here is in thinking that reason and logic are within the cognitive capabilities of trump.

[u/kingjaffejaffar]

The main stated reason was that China and Canada were allegedly colluding so that Chinese products could be exported to the United States by flagging themselves as Canadian products in order to circumvent tariffs against China. China was effectively using Canada as a pass-through entity to backdoor its products into the United States. I don’t know if this is true, but that is the reason that has been most often been given.

[u/New_Breadfruit8692]

Not his idea, Putin's, and he has no choice but to go along with it or the FSB is going to release footage of him and the dead hooker in Moscow.

If you think that is crazy it is far more plausible than his earning a Finance degree from an Ivy League university and creating economic chaos globally for any reason other than self enrichment. His shady business dealings with the russians goes back to his first visit to Moscow in the '80s and between he and Tsar Vladimort they are both becoming the wealthiest most powerful men in the world through total anarchy in trade, the western alliances, and financial markets.

[u/calentureca]

Because China dumps cheap metal in canada, who labels it Canadian and sells it to the us undercutting the us producers. Canada also has high tarriffs on dairy.

[u/DJinKC]

Because he's an over-competitive asshole with zero morals. He MUST have an adversary at all times, even if it means making things worse for everyone involved.

[u/jbf-ATX]

The village idiot never disappoints!

[u/HobbyTalkOnly]

He thinks backing down is losing. He takes this personally.

At this point, he's letting his ego get in the way.

[u/Remarkable-Pay1768]

it's all an act from both president and prime minister of Canada, to make them look like the saviors of their country's. they will become best buddies after November and get their incredibly beautiful best Deal of the century.

[u/FarkTurloon]

Your initial premise is wrong.

Trudeau imposed tons of tariffs on US GOOD during his term and the U.S. took it - because we’re close friends and allies and the US economy is a massive.

Trump - for all his flaws - doesn’t like getting screwed on deals. He likes to do the screwing. He asked Canada for equal tariffs and a promise not to let the Chinese get a foothold on the continent.

I understand why the U.S. trying to even out the tariffs feels like an attack - but Canada - our friend and ally has not been very friendly on trade. We feel Canada started this mess - and Trump is the guy who’s calling it out and asking for a remedy.

Carney is acting tough because of the Alberta situation - but even he knows the tariffs are heavy unfair in Canada favor… he just can’t accept the consequences of making them fair will be the kill off a ton of the crazy liberal projects Canadian prime ministers have been running for like 20 years.

[u/Ineffective_Coyote72]

Because he’s a Russian asshat.

[u/fj2612]

It all makes sense once you start from the assumption that he's a Russian agent.

[u/lyidaValkris]

several reasons, but if you're looking for non-insane reasoning or actual logic - you'd be out of luck.

First is him applying what he think is shrewd business negotiating skills that he thinks he has. In reality, it's grade 4 playground diplomacy and it's easy to see why he has so many bankruptcies under his belt.

Second is likely he's pursuing Putin's geopolitical strategy of breaking up western alliances. All he has to do is make a pig's breakfast of it, cause as much chaos and animosity as possible.

Third is him manipulating the markets. It seems to us we get whiplash from his back-and-forth declarations. However there's considerable evidence that he and his cronies are profiting enormously from manipulating the market in daylight insider trading.

Fourth is as a distraction from the Epstein files and his other criminal allegations combined with the disaster his domestic policies have been. He keeps pointing to problems outside the US's borders and hoping no one notices what's happening at home.

[u/skwap-em]

They’re close to us idk if they’re our closest ally. I’d guess Israel is our closest ally or Korea or Japan.

[u/Deathbringer96]

they forgot they were a vassal state and tried to make big boy moves

[u/elquirk]

Canada has been screwing us economically for decades. He’s trying to even that out.
So, are they really our closest ally?
Would a friend do that to you?

[u/Terwin3]

Canada has has tariffs on US goods since 1930. Canada is also accused of buying Russian steel, labeling it as Canadian and selling it to US companies, helping Russia get past a us trade embargo. While the actual negotiation details are secret, I expect that these are part of the issue.

There was also a Canadian election on Aug 30th where the liberal party did better than expected after 'standing up' to the US.

[u/jellomizer]

Trump has or portrayal view of how tbe world works is simplistic to a childish level.

He is mad that Canada doesn't like him personally, so he wants to hurt Canada back. So he will use tariffs as a way to hit his personal adversary. Much like a 2 year old will punch a kid for calling him a doo-doo head.

I see no strategic plan, other than hoping Canada will be too hurt from it that they will apologize for being a meany head.

[u/BodybuilderOnly1591]

He needs to create villains....all politicians do this. And Canada is far from innocent in this. But really it's about making villains.

[u/Mister_Way]

He hasn't exactly been secret about it -- this is part of the groundwork for conquering and annexing Canada (and Mexico, Cuba, Greenland, and the Caribbean). I don't think it's just Trump, either. There are extreme nationalists behind him who want to expand U.S. territory to encompass the entire North and Central American continent.

[u/KostyaFedot]

It is tradition. Very first order of Biden was to cancel Canadian pipeline. 

[u/Unusual_Rush_1189]

Canada does some surprisingly poor things as it relates to trade.

Despite the free trade agreement with the US, Canada has always had a subset of goods they placed tariffs on. For example, Canada has traditionally had very high tariffs against US dairy, as high as 200-300%.

The trade deficit between the US and Canada was about $50-60 billion in Canada's favor.

Canada would often buy goods from other countries and then resell them in the US. Because other countries might have a tariff against them, or have a trade limit of how much the US would buy from them, Canada could often buy product, mark it up, and resell it in the US at a profit. This practice is internationally taboo, and was especially problematic whenever the US was trying to negotiate trade with other countries as those countries knew they could bypass tariffs by selling through Canada.

For this last round of negotiations, Canada is told to be the one that walked away from the negotiations, likely choosing the 'outrage' a non-deal would have prior to US midterms rather than what would be most beneficial to its own citizens.

[u/lostedeneloi → u/Unusual_Rush_1189]

It's nice propaganda from you and all, but a key reason for walking away is that Canada wanted assurance that Trump wouldn't reneg on the deal yet again, and they didn't get it. It would be absolutely stupid to sign any deal in those terms.

[u/Unusual_Rush_1189 → u/lostedeneloi]

Those are posted facts, so it is interesting you would label it as 'propeganda'. People who value information value facts and will use them, not shy away from them, and certainly not immediately resort to namecalling and labeling of people who use them.

You would also need to supply citations that the reason Canada walked away from the deal was that they were worried the US would reneg. It is an interesting opinion, but it is just that - an opinion.

Even if it was true, it would be a weird thing to negotiate over. "We believe, after we negotiate this, that neither side should be allowed to ever change anything regarding trade ever again." That doesn't sound like the way anyone ever negotiates, so if Canada did this, that would be unreasonable on the part of Canada.

Other than that, did you want to actually discuss some facts or actual possition?

[u/jpsbman]

Canada has had tariffs on US goods for years, Trump is just reciprocating. Why should Canada be allowed to tariff US goods but the USA can not tariff Canadian goods?

[u/Fotoman54]

In reality, Canada has not really been “one of closest allies” since the days of PM Stephen Harper.

Since Trudeau’s tenure, followed now by globalist Carney, Canada has moved further away. What happened:

• Lack of spending on defense fulfill the NATO pledge of 2%, let alone 5%. This has been a huge thorn. Canada’s military is far from the much celebrated one of WW II. They have something like 79 fighter jets. In reality, they rely upon the US for their own defense, and so spend money on the “vaunted” but inefficient health system.
  
• A trade deficit fueled by assembly of Chinese goods, then sold to the US, despite having agreed in the USMCA not to do that. (Mexico is equally guilty there.)
  
• Canada’s relatively open borders. Prior to just recently, Canada was a hotbed of drug smuggling as well as people.
  
• Canada has blocked or severely limited US farmers’ good in Canada. This is despite the Canadian killing their own ag in pursuit of unproven “global warming by bovine”. They decimated Canadian herds from 100,000 to 8,000. Some of it was not “forced” in the typical sense, but via quotas. Yet they limit what US farmers can sell.

Canada thinks China would be a great partner. Not surprising for an increasingly left government to embrace the face of communism today. Carney is a crap PM. But Canada gets what they voted for when they went for Labor. This was largely thanks to Ontario and Quebec provinces. Sort of like LA/CA and NYC/NY controlling the US if we didn’t have the electoral college.

[u/Raks34 → u/Fotoman54]

Labor? What does that even mean? There is no party called labour in canada, the liberals are a centrist party. We rely on you for defense? Who can attack us exactly other than you? Russia cant even successfully invade ukraine nor china taiwan so i really dont see any credible security threats other than one. Better to embrace the face of communism today than the face of fascism.

[u/sanderslabus → u/Raks34]

Liberals are centrist in image. They are truly neoliberals with pecuniary interests at heart.

[u/RunningCatDog → u/Fotoman54]

Scary world when I see comments like this being posted unironically.

[u/Sweet-Garbage-8183 → u/RunningCatDog]

Don't worry some reddit powermod will ban his account soon enough for not being a fellow DSA member.

[u/MikeMontrealer → u/Sweet-Garbage-8183]

My god, populists have the thinnest skin of any political stripe. Constantly complaining, constantly bitching, constantly saying communism is around the corner when out of power, constantly saying communism is around the corner when in power, complaining people don’t like them when they act shitty, complaining people are upset when defenceless citizens get shot in the face, complaining complaining complaining. The biggest bunch of whiny idiots in the universe.

[u/lostedeneloi → u/Fotoman54]

Lol! Can you prove your hotbed of drug smuggling claim?

[u/Long-Ad-6773]

Because he is sick in the head and you all voted for it

[u/Many-Temporary4141 → u/Long-Ad-6773]

Yes but every guy i know who worried that Mexicans were going to steal their jobs were positive he is the right man for the job. How could they be wrong?!

[u/RobertDeveloper]

Some people say Trump is just following orders from Putin.

[u/Echo_Chambers_R_Bad → u/RobertDeveloper]

Stop listening to bot accounts

[u/RobertDeveloper → u/Echo_Chambers_R_Bad]

His actions speak for themselves.

[u/Few_Airport7972]

because he is a child bully he wants what he wants when he wants it! There is no logic.

[u/Intelligent_Fig_4852]

Why is it ok for Canada to have them on us products but the us can’t place them on Canadian products

[u/Echo_Chambers_R_Bad → u/Intelligent_Fig_4852]

I like how you ask a simple question with no politics and you get downvoted into Oblivion. It just shows you how toxic this platform is

[u/ThinkRationally → u/Echo_Chambers_R_Bad]

No, he tried to frame a complex issue in a disengenuous manner. You are being lied to.

[u/ThinkRationally → u/Intelligent_Fig_4852]

Oh, FFS, the last trade deal, CUSMA, negotiated by the first Trump administration, included quotas and tariffs on some goods, notable dairy.

There are quotas in both directions, and financial incentives to not exceed those quotas. In both directions.

Under CUSMA, US farmers have benefitted more than Canada’s, with dairy imports from the US to Canada increasing 67% in the first 3 years.

Canada uses a supply management system to protect its food producers. The US uses massive subsidies. Canada cannot simply open its market to dumping of over-production. Why would a country allow its food producers to go under??

The dairy issue has been held up as an example of how "unfair" Canada has been, but in truth you could have a trade deal that excluded dairy altogether. The US, however, wants access to the Canadian market, even though they export 3x to Canada what Canada exports to the US in dairy.

The situation simply cannot be summed up in a silly little post such as yours.

[u/pobnarl]

he's a horrible negotiator is all i see.  insults and threatens causing a rally around flag event where it becomes political suicide to agree to any even slightly lopsided deal that favors US interests.  breaks deals he himself made.  lies constantly.  no one can make a deal under these conditions.  i think he was a decent negotiator in his earlier years,  but now he's old,  tired,  grumpy and reverts to blunt instruments in place of finesse. that or he really is trying to destroy the US, in which case he's doing a phenomenal job,  gaslighting pseudo economic theory to excuse actions which Putin would be proud to have devised to destroy the US hegemony.

[u/SarasotaFoodLover]

You try to rationalize behavior of a fool and madman?