As noted yesterday, the trade negotiations between Canada and America have collapsed. This occurred after a deal had been announced. That deal granted Canada the best trade deal of any country. Prime Minister Mark Carney scuttled the deal.
Why?
Canadian Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc outlined the major fracture points that supposedly drove Carney to reject the deal. Let’s be reminded that these items were made into barriers to an agreement by Carney AFTER agreement had been reached between the negotiators.
There were four items that caused Carney to make a public spectacle of standing up to the United Staes and PDJT.
- Removal of tariffs on Canadian assembled Semi-Trucks.
- US streaming services writing code for “search engines” in the French language.
- Canada demanding 5% of gross revenues from U.S. tech platforms,
- The U.S. having a right to reject a trade deal made by Canada with a non-market economy, ie. CHINA.
Let’s look at each one.
Semi-trucks.
Big Rigs assembled/built in Canada are falling apart in the USA. Why? Because they are full of cheap Chinese component goods and parts that wear out quickly. I have confirmed this with a friend in the trucking industry.
The U.S. wants two things on this issue. Either: (1) Make them in the USA, or (2) stop using cheap Chinese component parts. The Chinese parts that Canada are using are not even available in the USA because we reject them. Why should we accept them when Canada installs them? Canada’s choice here is either stop using such parts or pay the Chinese tariff rate.
This brings us around to the older “Made in China” pejorative that was common years ago. Why are such goods cheap? Because they are not quality.
The French Language Item.
This is really stupid, because when you buy your hardware (TV, Phone, Computer etc.) it asks you what language or country during set up. If you want French, you select French. The operating system does the rest.
Either Carney is incredibly stupid about technology or this was a side bar issue that he felt might give him some political cover. IMO it just shows that Carney was not serious about a trade deal with America.
Tech Platform Gross Revenue Share.
Canada was demanding 5% of U.S. tech platform gross revenue (not profit, gross). This would have been on top of whatever corporate income taxes that these platforms pay in Canada. The money would be used to subsidize Canadian media and info platforms that promote and pass on the approved government narratives. This is what the Canadian government calls “cultural protection.” In reality it is state-run media with better financing than the old Soviet Union had.
Limiting Trade Deals
Sundance notes:
This point is exponentially ridiculous for Canada to be upset about because the current USMCA/CUSMA already has that clause. The U.S (or Mexico) can exit the USMCA if Canada enters into a trade agreement with a “non-market” economy, ie China. [USMCA Sec 32:10]
China’s deal with Canada depends on access to the US markets through Canada. When Canada entered into this agreement, they violated the USMCA/CUSMA agreement since they never allowed either the US or Mexico to review the deal.
All of this misses the actual intent of Mark Carney. Carney is trying to paint Trump as disagreeable and is doing everything he can to hurt the US economy so as to hurt Trump’s midterm chances. Undoubtedly China and the EU are in the background pushing this idea.
Mark Carney is a key spokesman for a permanent-warfare economic strategy, detailing his global financial roles and Canada’s creation of a Defense Security and Resilience Bank to fund defense mobilization without citizen involvement. Canadians would have no say in this.
The Canadian economy is failing. Canadians are becoming restless and rebellious. History teaches us how treacherous rulers use an external enemy to escape blame and consequences. Carney’s other job is to push Canadians towards China as their savior. Watch to see how many Chinese are working in the western provinces of Canada in the near future.
Where is all of this ending?