[picard102]

What do you mean by ' rely on America for everything' ?

In my industry, it's nearly impossible to find alternatives for a lot of digital services and products we use.
There are one or two here and there, but a lot of the alternatives to the big names, are often US based as well.

 

[old boy]

In my industry, it's nearly impossible to find alternatives for a lot of digital services and products we use.
There are one or two here and there, but a lot of the alternatives to the big names, are often US based as well.

Good point. However, my level of basic consumer includes mostly discretionary items such as infrequent trips, or special commodity items. I'm fortunate to have the choice, and will exercise it.

 

[afransen]

What do you mean by ' rely on America for everything' ? I agree that there's a lot we might do to make our country less reliant on American products. Number 1 on my list right now is to buy much less American products. When reading articles on the import of American tariffs in the New York Times, for one example, there is little said about the Canadian anger and new Canadian consumer preferences to buy Canadian. Maybe, the news outlets don't really care how we feel - time to disturb the complacency in my opinion.

I think Trump and his cronies underestimated how piqued Canada and Canadians will be by this episodes, even if it ends up just being a negotiating tactic. When Canadians are booing your national anthem, doing a quick "just kidding" isn't going to set everything back to the way it was.

 

[lenaitch]

When reading articles on the import of American tariffs in the New York Times, for one example, there is little said about the Canadian anger and new Canadian consumer preferences to buy Canadian. Maybe, the news outlets don't really care how we feel - time to disturb the complacency in my opinion.

I think many people forget how parochial much of the US culture is. Knowledge about their world exists in diminishing circles away from county > state > national. When you grow up in a super power that has preached American exceptionalism for a century or two, you grow up not having to think or care about the rest of the world.

American currency is fairly readily accepted here. How many places in the US, even border communities, accept Canadian currency?

 

[evandyk]

I have colleagues in the US and I sent them a few articles to show them how important this issue was to Canadians, and they were quite surprised. They generally do not understand how much of a dagger this was in Canada. They are definitely not Trump supporters, but for them it was just one of many issues going on.

 

[Northern Light]

I think many people forget how parochial much of the US culture is. Knowledge about their world exists in diminishing circles away from county > state > national. When you grow up in a super power that has preached American exceptionalism for a century or two, you grow up not having to think or care about the rest of the world.

Agreed.

American currency is fairly readily accepted here. How many places in the US, even border communities, accept Canadian currency?

A brief, and rather dated anecdote.

My dad took me a on driving tour around the Great Lakes, both sides, when I was young.

We crossed the border into Michigan, and drove to Kalamazoo, where we needed to stop for lunch.

My dad had forgotten to change his currency. The local U.S. fast food establishment wouldn't take Canadian Dollars. So he had to go to a U.S. bank and ask to do an exchange.

Remember this is pre-internet as we know it today.........

The local bank, only 150km from the border, in a border state.......didn't have anyone working who would verify our Canadian currency was real. The bank manager had to phone head office in another city who had to find an expert, who had
to talk him through verifying the validity of the bills..........it took close to an hour to get it done.

My dad had a credit card, but at that time, fast food places didn't accept them. They were only good for hotels and larger purchases.

I would hope its a bit easier these days........

 

[Coolibop]

Janice Stein, an expert in negotiations and international relations, was on Peter Mansbridge's podcast yesterday. Before the announcement of the tariff delays in Mexico and Canada, she suggested that Canada came out too hard with their retaliatory response, as it didn't give the opposing side much of an offramp. She believed Canada should have come in lower, so that the Americans would think (more) about what they were imposing. The sentiment of Canadians on social media seems to suggest we were all gung-ho to hit back hard, but I'm not sure that feelings online (in the proverbial bubble) translate to many impactful actions... Will we all forget about buying Canadian in a months time?

Some of the provincial announcements about removing or cancelling US goods/contracts seem to hurt Canadians most if anything, and didn't play at all over the airwaves stateside as Janice also brought up. While it sends a message, I'm not sure the US population really cares. In the words of Musk when he heard about the Starlink contract: 'oh well'.

Additionally, she opined that this could be more about Trump and Trudeau not liking each other. On one hand, I've read that Trump is sensitive to how people don't bend the knee and can be vindictive. On the other hand, I wonder if Trump respected the decisions made by Trudeau and his team as a show of strength, which he has been known to show a liking for.

Was this all just a play to give extra work to someone Trump doesn't like and give them a bit of a headache to make him feel superior? Team Trump has a long history of announcing tariffs as a path to negotiate what they are really after, under a veil of national security excuses. Interestingly, China still remains silent... if like the last round, will eventually announce their own to counter, and maybe some minor concessions while the majority of tariffs stay in place.

 

[Mihairokov]

All respect to Janice and their expertise on the manner but I feel like this insight is predicated that both parties are negotiating in good faith. If one side is very obviously negotiating in bad faith there's only so much the other actors can do. In that case I think Canada retaliating with strong(er) tariffs than necessary was good as it indicated we weren't there to waste time.

Interestingly, China still remains silent... if like the last round, will eventually announce their own to counter, and maybe some minor concessions while the majority of tariffs stay in place.

China announced 10% tariffs on US imports as of today.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/china-tariffs-u-s-response-1.7449766

 

[wopchop]

Nothing unites Canadians quite like Americans. Talking about how at least we aren't Americans is the real national sport.

 

[guavadelic]

I think Trump and his cronies underestimated how piqued Canada and Canadians will be by this episodes, even if it ends up just being a negotiating tactic. When Canadians are booing your national anthem, doing a quick "just kidding" isn't going to set everything back to the way it was.

He and his people clearly don't value how Canadians feel about them or value the importance of the Canadian market as buyers of American goods. If they did they wouldn't have pursued these punitive tariffs.

 

[guavadelic]

I have colleagues in the US and I sent them a few articles to show them how important this issue was to Canadians, and they were quite surprised. They generally do not understand how much of a dagger this was in Canada. They are definitely not Trump supporters, but for them it was just one of many issues going on.

Agreed. While watching American news media, it seemed like they devoted more time to Musk et al closing down USAID as opposed to the Trump tariffs.

 

[PinkLucy]

I spend a lot of time in the US and follow a number of "regular folk" on various channels. A lot were aware and apologetic. I read about areas where grocery stores were slammed on the weekend as people panic bought to avoid the tariffs. I read about it more vs seeing it on the news. What most were unaware of is that both Mexico and Canada had made some of these agreements before Trump even took office. All hail the new Fentanyl Czar, however.

 

[marcus_a_j]

I think many people forget how parochial much of the US culture is. Knowledge about their world exists in diminishing circles away from county > state > national. When you grow up in a super power that has preached American exceptionalism for a century or two, you grow up not having to think or care about the rest of the world.

American currency is fairly readily accepted here. How many places in the US, even border communities, accept Canadian currency?

Jay Peak Ski Resort in Vermont accepts Canadian dollars at par for lift tickets. Once upon a time the owners were Canadian and they've kept this in place ever since through change in ownerships. There are more Canadians than Americans living within a 2-hr drive of the resort and it relies a lot on Canadian visitors so it makes sense. On the flipside, a few years ago I visited a 7-11 a little further south of the border and the clerk did not accept my passport as valid ID for buying a 6-pack of beer. I am sure they would not have accepted our funny money to buy the beer either.

 

[lenaitch]

Some of the provincial announcements about removing or cancelling US goods/contracts seem to hurt Canadians most if anything, and didn't play at all over the airwaves stateside as Janice also brought up. While it sends a message, I'm not sure the US population really cares. In the words of Musk when he heard about the Starlink contract: 'oh well'.

I don't think anyone expected cancelled booze contracts to visible to the American public directly. A lot of the proposed measures are aimed at the corporate level. Any direct impact would come from layoffs due to reduced sales. This would only happen if Canadian sales (of anything) was a significant percentage of the market, and if dots were connected.

All hail the new Fentanyl Czar, however.

My prediction based on absolutely nothing is either a re-purposed 'loyal' Assistant Deputy Minister, or a RCMP D/Comm, C/Supt. or Supt. from a major crime branch who suddenly decided to pension out. A pension plus whatever the going rate for Czar is, not bad. If female, a Czarina?

 

[Richard White]

My prediction based on absolutely nothing is either a re-purposed 'loyal' Assistant Deputy Minister, or a RCMP D/Comm, C/Supt. or Supt. from a major crime branch who suddenly decided to pension out. A pension plus whatever the going rate for Czar is, not bad. If female, a Czarina?

That description fits Bill Blair. As the former Chief of Police for Toronto and having fulfilled justice related portfolios in the past he is a natural candidate.