[Godstud]

Speculation without any rationale? Perhaps you can explain it, as even economists cannot.

[Albert]

Well that is my whole point, if what Canadian foreign minister says is true and Trumps trade policy is irrational, perhaps his rationale for his actions has nothing to do with trade. It is my speculation indeed and I'm just throwing it out there.

It could be that Trump actually wants to isolate the liberal progressive SJW club nations of France, Germany and Canada. He knows UK is about to leave EU and is looking for closer trade relations with US; Italy might leave EU as well soon, with populist government in charge; Japan will join USA if push comes to shove. Diplomatically long term cards are in US favour. Being that Merkel, Trudeau's and Macron's can not think more then 1 steps ahead they are flying right into his game.

Will see.

[Godstud]

Lots of personal opinions there, @Albert, but no facts.

Seeing that Trump can't even think 1 step ahead, makes your hypothesis joke-worthy.

[Albert]

I'm sorry Godstud that you feel so distressed about my analyse politique.

I'm actually quite surprised that US presidents have so much power, that they can impose tariffs like this. What has been congress or senate saying about all this?

[Godstud]

Awwww, do you need a safe space? You didn't like my assessment of your argument lacking in any actual facts? That you always accuse others of feelings, in response to your opinions,shows what a SJW Champion you actually are.

[Albert]

Oh some Republicans in Senate did try to oppose this.

Republicans, Don’t Let Trump Bully You on Tariffs


For several months, President Trump has been vandalizing the global economy and subverting the rules of international trade with his wrecking ball of tariff indiscretions. Finally, someone in Congress is doing something to stop this menace. Senator Bob Corker, a Republican from Tennessee, introduced legislation on Wednesday that takes back some of the authority President Trump has been abusing under the guise of protecting national security.

Mr. Corker, who is retiring, attracted six Republican co-sponsors for the bill, which would amend the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 to require the president to get approval from Congress for any tariffs proposed on national security grounds. But the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, said he would not allow the legislation to come to the floor as a stand-alone bill. House Speaker Paul Ryan seems similarly uninterested in a bill likely to be vetoed by Mr. Trump. “You would have to pass a law that he would want to sign into law,” Mr. Ryan said. “You can do the math on that.”

Why don’t the president’s trade transgressions elicit meaningful resistance from party leadership? His trade views are disdainful of freedom and informed by economic fallacies, yet Republican leaders have watched quietly from the sidelines as Mr. Trump misappropriates his authorities to disrupt global supply chains, inflict pain on American trade partners, generate enormous amounts of domestic collateral damage and make the United States an international scofflaw.

The United States Constitution vests authority in Congress to collect duties and to “regulate commerce with foreign nations.” But over the course of the 20th century, Congress delegated some of its authority to the president. In most cases, the statutes giving the executive branch the authority to raise tariffs require that certain conditions be met and that any actions taken be subject to limitations, as well as judicial review.

President Trump has found a way to weaponize these statutes to advance his “America First” agenda. Since taking office, he has initiated six investigations under three highly contentious laws. Five of those investigations — on steel, aluminium, washing machines, solar panel components and Chinese technology products — have led to the president imposing or announcing tariffs on imports of more than 1,500 products valued at about $100 billion. A new investigation of whether imports of automobiles and parts constitute a national security threat could raise the value of sanctioned imports to $400 billion. Factoring in the likelihood of retaliation against American exporters, about 20 percent of total goods trade could find itself in the cross hairs by year’s end.

For more than 80 years going back to Franklin D. Roosevelt, American presidents viewed trade as a win-win proposition, fostering mutual economic growth and better relations among nations. Those presidents supported the rules and institutions that helped reduce protectionism and made trade more affordable, seamless and predictable. Between 1947 and 2006, average global tariffs fell to 4 percent from 40 percent in developed countries, trade flourished, and economies expanded rapidly.

Mr. Trump’s actions risk reversing these gains. He has invoked laws that were passed under the assumption that the president, reflecting a broader national consensus, would always be more circumspect and less likely to impulsively raise tariffs than a parochially minded Congress. Lawmakers failed to contemplate the possibility of a president as cavalier about the consequences of protectionism and as impervious to the lessons of history as Mr. Trump.....

Holy Molly this article suggest that this might be just the beginning of all this.

Also lol at Trump being the global vandal.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/congress-v ... 1528414368

[Crantag]

Trump used a national security provision to ram through the tarrifs without Congress. That's also the basis of Truduea's stance of 'how is Canada a national security threat?' Hence Trump's quip.

[Zagadka]

Reality to Trump: America tried to annex Canada

[Godstud]

Bipartisan issues in Canada:

Doug Ford says he stands ‘shoulder to shoulder’ with Justin Trudeau following Trump tirade
Ford, a populist campaigner who has praised U.S. President Donald Trump in the past, said he stands “shoulder to shoulder” with Canada’s Liberal prime minister because jobs in his province are at stake
https://globalnews.ca/news/4265484/trum ... r-trudeau/

[Ter]

Trump should follow the Game of Thrones example and build a big wall to the North to keep out those dangerous icy Canadians.
For not accepting American milk.
Neener neener.

[Godstud]

We'd appreciate the wall, as well, since it'd help keep our beer cold, and the unwashed masses of Americans OUT.

[jimjam]

Donald Trump has managed to do something I wouldn't have believed possible in the 21st Century. He's made Canadians angry. And that takes a lot of doing.

There's not going to be any need for the Canadian government to actually impose the tariffs planned for the end of the month. A spontaneous movement to boycott any and all things American is already underway. You can already see it on the grocery stores, where fruits and vegetables grown in the USA sit in their bins while those from Mexico get snatched up. So there's no need to speculate on if and when the Trump trade wars will begin. They already have.

Was there any strategy behind Trump’s behavior? Well, it was pretty much exactly what he would have done if he really is Putin’s puppet: yelling at friendly nations about sins they aren’t committing won’t bring back American jobs, but it’s exactly what someone who does want to break up the Western alliance would like to see.

Whatever really happened, this was an utter, humiliating debacle. And we all know how Trump responds to humiliation. You really have to wonder what comes next. One thing’s for sure: it won’t be good.

[Stormsmith]

Putin's goals have included stuffing all the money he can into his own accounts, reconstructing the USSR, and breaking up NATO.

He's doing well.

I wonder if the next time America needs her allies to wage a bloody war, and no one is willing to fight under a Trump administration, if Trump supporters will finally realise they've been played.

And yes, I'm boycotting your stuff too. Please don't take it personally, it's just business.

[Atlantis]

It could be that Trump actually wants to isolate the liberal progressive SJW club nations of France, Germany and Canada. He knows UK is about to leave EU and is looking for closer trade relations with US; Italy might leave EU as well soon, with populist government in charge; Japan will join USA if push comes to shove. Diplomatically long term cards are in US favour. Being that Merkel, Trudeau's and Macron's can not think more then 1 steps ahead they are flying right into his game.

You really don't get it, do you?

I have been rooting for Trump since before the election because I knew it would give the EU a tremendous boost and may even shatter the trans-Atlantic alliance. I never believed I would come to witness it during my lifetime, but it looks like it might come true faster than anybody could have thought - just like the fall of the Berlin wall, I never thought it would happen during my life, but when it started crumbling, things went at great speed.

I do feel sorry for Americans and for all of you guys who are going to lose your jobs in the global recession Trump is going to trigger. This must be the first time in human history that a president has deliberately triggered a recession. It comes only 10 years after the US caused the last recession. Is there some rule that the US has to plunge the world into recession every 10 years? Maybe it’s good for speculators who are bound to rake in huge profits.

Anyways, Trump is God's gift for European integration. We must have merited it

For Canada it must to tough, though, being all alone against the bully. But fear not, I think the EU might be willing to accept you as associate member. You may still be able to benefit from the great gift of European integration, Albert, just don't give up hope.

[Atlantis]

EU leader jabs at Trump adviser: ‘Special place in heaven’ for Trudeau

Top European Union official Donald Tusk said on Sunday that there is a “special place in heaven” for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in a sly rebuke of recent comments made by one of President Trump’s trade officials.

“There is a special place in heaven for @JustinTrudeau,” tweeted Tusk, the president of the European Council. “Canada, thank you for the perfect organisation of G7!”

There is a special place in heaven for @JustinTrudeau. Canada, thank you for the perfect organisation of G7!

— Donald Tusk (@eucopresident) June 10, 2018

Tusk’s comments came shortly after Trump’s trade adviser Peter Navarro said there was a “special place in hell” for leaders who betrayed Trump.

"There's a special place in hell for any foreign leader that engages in bad faith diplomacy with President Donald J. Trump and then tries to stab him in the back on the way out the door," Navarro said on "Fox News Sunday."

"That's what bad faith Justin Trudeau did with that stunt press conference. That's what weak, dishonest Justin Trudeau did, and that comes right from Air Force One," he continued.

Trudeau announced on Saturday that all nations at the Group of Seven summit had signed a joint communique.

Later on Saturday, Trump criticized the Canadian leader and said the U.S. would not sign the communique despite Trudeau’s previous statement.

"Based on Justin’s false statements at his news conference, and the fact that Canada is charging massive Tariffs to our U.S. farmers, workers and companies, I have instructed our U.S. Reps not to endorse the Communique as we look at Tariffs on automobiles flooding the U.S. Market!" the president tweeted.

Based on Justin’s false statements at his news conference, and the fact that Canada is charging massive Tariffs to our U.S. farmers, workers and companies, I have instructed our U.S. Reps not to endorse the Communique as we look at Tariffs on automobiles flooding the U.S. Market!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 9, 2018
Trudeau pushed back against Trump’s tweet by saying he had been consistent with Trump during the summit.

"The Prime Minister said nothing he hasn’t said before — both in public, and in private conversations with the President," the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement.

[Beren]

I wonder whether how much Trudeau can capitalise on this. Even Doug Ford decided to side with him.

[Albert]

@Atlantis
Don't forget there are still American troops in Europe. And EU is disintegrating because people like Merkel and Macron can not keep their people safe and protected. In fact they are doing exactly the opposite than keeping them safe and protected by importing millions of migrants over the Mediterranean. How can you support them, these people cause havoc, terrorist attacks, brought so much suffering on their own people, yet you cheerlead for them?

Was there not another girl recently raped and killed by a migrant that Merkel led in.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/0 ... l-germany/

I'm sorry, I'm with Trump on this one.

[jimjam]

The Group of 7 was just the kind of forum a bully like Mr. Trump cannot abide, not out of geopolitical considerations, but because he cannot dominate and preen. He knew he would be on the defensive — over backing out of the Paris environment accord and the Iran nuclear deal, and now over the tariffs he slapped on European and Canadian steel and aluminium — so he made a point of being late, acting petulant, leaving early and lashing out at Mr. Trudeau.

(off topic aside: I think Donald is getting fatter )

[jimjam]

I actually take Donald's pompous and insulting behavior toward Canada personally. During my working years I had made dozens of business trips to Canada and have found Canadians to be very friendly and welcoming. They are wonderful people. Peaceful and good natured. I almost felt like a Canadian. Wouldn't it be cool if Canada and another country Donald has shit on, Mexico, formed a bi lateral anti American alliance They could then let America in after Donald is relegated to his money bin where he can worship money for the rest of his days.

[Tainari88]

Justin Trudeau, he criticized a little bit Trump. Trump went ballistic. What is wrong with the combover man? He needs to relax. Maybe he should admire Justin's nice blue suit. His youthful good looks, praise him on his European good looks. Lol.