What is Alexander Panetta’s problem with Canada? Is he an American or a fifth columnist of snark. CBC might want to consider someone capable of writing analysis without trashing Canada.

  • Rentlar@lemmy.ca
    1·
    4 hours ago

    Canada’s retaliation, at least the 30 to 150 billion announced, is small potatoes on the scale of the massive US economy, that’s not snark but a fact.

    But I think the writer is giving sufficient credence to the notion that despite that difference in size, we have an outsized ability to turn the screws (like Doug Ford is) when already the US administration is screwing itself 6 ways to Sunday.

    Had we as Canadians acted with indifference to these threats, the sense of urgency of the true effects of MAGA and Trumpism might not be conveyed clearly enough, since American media is distracted by 1000 scandals going at once, and the White House and Republicans’ Congress are now like a Ministry of Alternative Facts.

  • Daniel Quinn@lemmy.caEnglish
    4·
    10 hours ago

    Those factors will likely pack more punch in Washington than the $155 billion in counter-tariffs threatened by Canada. To put this number in perspective, it’s a fraction of what American stock markets have lost this week.

    That’s a pretty dumb take when you consider that a major cause of those losses is the market factoring in the cost of Canadian retaliatory tariffs.

    • MyBrainHurts@lemmy.caEnglish
      11·
      9 hours ago

      I think you’re maybe misunderstanding the direction of the tarrifs costs?

      The tarrifs cost American importers regardless of our counter tarrifs. For an example, the article pointed to, Target which

      said it expected to raise prices within days, specifically mentioning Mexican strawberries, bananas and avocados

      Doesn’t matter what counter tarrifs Mexico puts in place, produce from Mexico will be more expensive in America. Counter tarrifs just make things more expensive in our own country and hopefully dissuade people from buying them.

      The markets aren’t roiling because of reduced access to Canadian markets, it’s that the stuff in their own products (like say, car parts made in Canada) overnight became 25% more expensive. (I would also be surprised if we tarrifed much in our shared industries like auto production as it’ll be hard enough to keep those factories here without making them even more expensive.)

      That’s not to say what we do is irrelevant, we should absolutely boycott and do whatever we can to make the markets worse but it’s good to do so with clear eyes.

      • Daniel Quinn@lemmy.caEnglish
        2·
        9 hours ago

        No I’m well aware of how tariffs work. The thing is, given how tightly coupled our economies are, nearly all major US manufacturing is heavily dependent on Canadian exports. Our auto industry alone has a single vehicle traversing the border multiple times. When we impose a counter-tariff, that hurts US industry considerably. Couple this, with the lost good will between the US and it’s biggest trading partner by far, and you’ve got a a massive devaluation of US stock prices due to diversification and boycotts alone.

        In other words, the dude’s not wrong that the market hit is massive, he’s just got blinders on around the cause.