Trump Tariff Watch

[NormalDan]

What I’ve read is the Chinese EVs are good. They’re not inexpensive because they’re cheaply made. They’re made well plus the CCP subsidizes it. Then we get ourselves in a tizzy over 100 year old tech and protect ourselves from nice things. #winning

[Cooke]

Would like to see the comparable numbers for flights from the EU. Probably not as dramatic as Canada’s as the boycott here of all things American is very strong.

[Cooke]

@Maphistos_Sidekick

While I agree that when you focus on just US-Canada trade, car tariffs are a net negative to American car manufacturers, I’m not certain that holds when you look at the American car market as a whole.

Trump should have exempted CUSMA-made parts and cars from the tariffs. The North American car manufacturing is fully integrated and the only way to unwind it would be at the expense of all three countries. In contrast, persuading German car manufacturers through tariffs to make more cars in the US might actually be an achievable goal.

[NormalDan]

I hope Trump doesn’t tariff Canadian actuarial forums

[Maphistos_Sidekick]

I wouldn’t be at all surprised if somewhere there weren’t plans to build a big beautiful firewall (demanding that Mexico and Canada pay for it) to protect America from wokeness.

[The_President]

The US has it’s own set of safety rules that makers often have to adjust to in order to sell a car in the US. My guess that includes a lot of bad rules that don’t make sense given today’s tech.

[The_Polymath]

Impact of price rises just based on Canada and Mexico is quite steep. $4k to $10k.

Analysts have estimated that tariffs on parts just from Canada and Mexico could lead to costs rising by $4,000-$10,000 depending on the vehicle, according to the Anderson Economic Group.

Germany says it 'will not give in' as Trump announces 25% car tariffs

[ArthurItas]

We do already have a class of vehicles for that, although the cutoff is 25mph (40km/hr)

Neighborhood Electric Vehicle

Some of the universities here use them.

[Cooke]

@ArthurItas

We do already have a class of vehicles for that, although the cutoff is 25mph (40km/hr)

My son imported one of these directly from the Chinese manufacturer but I sold it because of its limited use. Too big for bike paths and too dangerous on streets with faster traffic.

[Triweasel]

We have a bunch of these zipping around campus. They use them to transport students with disabilities or a broken leg or whatever. Kinda cool, but they clog up my skateboard lane when I am rolling to my classroom.

[Cooke]

@Cooke

Trump should have exempted CUSMA-made parts and cars from the tariffs. The North American car manufacturing is fully integrated and the only way to unwind it would be at the expense of all three countries. In contrast, persuading German car manufacturers through tariffs to make more cars in the US might actually be an achievable goal.

Apparently Howard Lutnick agrees with me. Hope Trump does as well. From a Globe story today:

**Ontario expects the U.S. administration to significantly ease the impact of auto tariffs on Canada, following a phone call from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to Premier Doug Ford on Wednesday, according to a source.

Mr. Lutnick called Mr. Ford on Wednesday evening, according to a senior Ontario government source, after U.S. President Donald Trump announced auto tariffs during a news conference. The Globe and Mail is not identifying the source as they are not authorized to speak publicly about internal discussions.

The source said it is clear to Ontario that Mr. Lutnick understands how integrated the auto supply chains are and the province expects further refinement and development to the 25-per-cent tariff policy announced by Mr. Trump on Wednesday, which blindsided Canadian officials.**

[The_Polymath]

I don’t think Carney is going to negotiate with Lutnick and his minions.

Carney has now seen what the US is planning on doing in Ukraine, and Canada is probably next on the menu. The relationship that the US used to have with Canada is now dead.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Thursday that Canada’s old relationship with the United States was “over” and vowed that there would be a “broad renegotiation” of the trade agreement between the countries. Speaking in Ottawa after meeting the nation’s provincial premiers, Carney said the tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump would force Canada to rethink and reshape its economy and seek “reliable” trading partners. “The old relationship we had with the United States, based on deepening integration of our economies and tight security and military cooperations, is over,” he told reporters.

Mark Carney says old Canada-US relationship is ‘over’

[Cooke]

@The_Polymath

The relationship that the US used to have with Canada is now dead.

Totally agree. And Carney is a better choice than Poilievre to try to chart a new path forward.

[The_Polymath]

I think Trump really has no idea just how much the EU can hurt the US.

Brussels got the message with the latest Ukraine stunt.

Its time for serious economic hardball.

Google, Microsoft, Facebook, etc

They are all going to get hit with tariffs on service exports.

The EU is considering hitting US services exports, including Big Tech’s operations, to retaliate against Donald Trump imposing 25 per cent tariffs on the car industry and promising a further round of measures next week. Brussels has already unveiled extra duties on up to €26bn of US goods after Washington imposed steel and aluminium tariffs.

Another example would be banning Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite network from winning government contracts. Some experts say that to inflict even more economic pain on the US, the European Commission would need to use its anti-coercion instrument (ACI), dubbed the “trade bazooka”. This tool could restrict the activities of US banks, revoke patents or prevent companies receiving revenues from software updates or streaming.

EU looks to hit Big Tech in crackdown on US services exports

[Cooke]

Canada can’t influence the USA much on its own so other countries need to step up. Europeans should boycott the USA for starters, similar to Canadians.

Trump has to be reined in for the sake of the whole world, including the USA.

[The_Polymath]

I used to think that it was possible to negotiate with Trump.

I don’t think so anymore.

Trump and his entourage cannot be trusted to honour any agreement.

Thats what it comes down to. So the only way to deal with a destructive country (which is what the US is now) is by playing hardball. Damage them for maximum economic effect as a combined group.

And then we will see if the population wakes up to what is going on.

What else is there to do? The country is on a downward spiral with an increasingly dysfunctional foreign policy.

[Maphistos_Sidekick]

@The_Polymath

I used to think that it was possible to negotiate with Trump.

I don’t think so anymore.

Trump and his entourage cannot be trusted to honour any agreement.

Congratulations. The rest of the world is learning what some of us who have had the misfortune to do business with Trump’s enterprises learned awhile ago.

[dr_t_non-fan]

Its not the country. It’s tRump.
Hit him where it hurts him.

[Cooke]

I don’t see any value in Canada negotiating a new free trade agreement with the US given how Trump is ignoring the current one. Canada was a prosperous country before the Conservatives negotiated the Canada-US free trade agreement. Happy to concentrate on making more of our own stuff and selling to countries other than the USA.

[Gormenghast]

I think everything will become clearer on April 2 as that is when the global tariff pronouncement will be made.