Article

2025-03-12 Great White North

Ontario premier backs down, suspends electricity surcharge on US after Trump tariff threats on Canadian metals

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Posted by Skidmark 2025-03-12 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11136 views ] Top

#1 I could go on and write a long explanation why tariffs are stupid and tariffs on steel are even more stupid. But as long as Trump loves tariffs, there really is no point. He'll learn it the hard way (no pun intended).

Btw in 2018 there was an overproduction of steel which led to unfair practices. But Europe and Canada weren't the culprits, that was China.

The situation has changed. Europe now needs all the steel it can produce, so YOU will swallow the higher prices.

And I will have to drink more Scotch instead of Bourbon.

Posted by European Conservative 2025-03-12 08:12|| 2025-03-12 08:12|| Front Page Top

#2 China exports steel to it's Canadian subsidiaries. They rebrand the Chinese steel as Canadian steel and flood the US market.
Keep explaining stupid.

Posted by The Walking Unvaxed 2025-03-12 09:46|| 2025-03-12 09:46|| Front Page Top

#3 Germany and the EU certainly don't. And these days it doesn't even matter as steel is in high demand.

Anyway I don't have to explain this. Your wallet will do that soon enough.

I have stocked up on excellent bourbon.

Posted by European Conservative 2025-03-12 09:50|| 2025-03-12 09:50|| Front Page Top

#4 If everyone played by the same rules tariffs would be unnecessary but some times the donkey needs a 2x4 upside the head to get his attention. That's what Trump knows how to do. He is very good at getting their attention.

Posted by alanc 2025-03-12 10:39|| 2025-03-12 10:39|| Front Page Top

#5 U.S. Trade Deficit with EU Increased to over $215 Billion Last Year

Posted by Skidmark 2025-03-12 11:06|| 2025-03-12 11:06|| Front Page Top

#6 In 2023 trade in services between the U.S. and the E.U. was worth 688 billion euros ($710 billion) with a trade deficit of 104 billion euros ($107 billion) for the EU.

Why do you always leave out this part?

Posted by European Conservative 2025-03-12 11:12|| 2025-03-12 11:12|| Front Page Top

#7 Why do you always leave out this part?

EU-US trade
Council of the European Union

Prob cause, by EU published numbers,
most of that is Professional, scientific, and technical services and IP.
Not manufactured goods, or energy.

Kinda embarassing.

Posted by Skidmark 2025-03-12 11:57|| 2025-03-12 11:57|| Front Page Top

#8 fwiw, the Canadian and US economies are pretty closely linked,

the US exports steel to Canada and imports steel from Canada - this is because there are different production/demand situations in different regions and also steel comes in different forms and different strength

I'm not sure, but I think that, at least one time, Canada subsidized its exports to the US by govt mandated favorable loan structures, tax management and other means

not sure if they still do this

I agree w Euro Conserve that free & fair trade between both countries would benefit both countries. However, getting to 'free&fair' and keeping it that way is a major problem. Perhaps getting to free&Fair requires Trumpian conflict.

Posted by Lord Garth 2025-03-12 12:49|| 2025-03-12 12:49|| Front Page Top

#9 "Fair is in the eye of the beholder. Compared to China, trade between the US and Europe is quite fair, and TTIP would have eliminated most trade barriers.

I don't agree with Trump's vision (as emphasized in "Art of the Deal") that there are always "winners" and "losers" in a deal. It doesn't have to be that way, and I don't run my business with that vision.

There are many reasons for a trade deficit between two countries, and it doesn't have to mean that one side is "ripping off" the other. The U.S. has a huge trade surplus with the Netherlands, but that doesn't mean the U.S. is "ripping off" the poor Dutch.

Germany (still) has a strong manufacturing industry with products that the U.S. wants. OTOH, the U.S. has many services that Germany wants and needs (Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Hollywood).

A trade war will hurt both sides. Blanket tariffs are more likely to hurt the country that imposes them, because the other country will retaliate with very targeted tariffs to minimize the damage. But in the end, no one wins. Tariffs always have unintended consequences, especially when economies are closely linked. Tariffs don't make you rich, the consumer always pays the price.

Posted by European Conservative 2025-03-12 13:22|| 2025-03-12 13:22|| Front Page Top

#10 I would like to know where the anti-tariff deepfake ads on youtube money is coming from. Amazingly they just started popping up. Weird.

Posted by swksvolFF 2025-03-12 13:24|| 2025-03-12 13:24|| Front Page Top

#11 Toronto police say it's Islamophobic to label protests as pro-Hamas in morning podcast

Posted by Grom the Affective 2025-03-12 14:02|| 2025-03-12 14:02|| Front Page Top

#12 Everyone agrees that tariffs are bad.

But Free Trade only happens with products coming into America.

We were sold on the idea of Free Trade would make up for itself in that our exports would increase as our trade partners dropped that tariffs in relation to ours. But what happened is that we dropped our tariffs on them and they never dropped theirs tariffs on us. Tariffs are bad. Especially the tariffs Canada, Brazil, China, and the EU impose on the Unites States.

The first 200 years of America's Existence, we had no income tax and we had tariffs. We became the richest country in the world. 18th-19th Century, America was the jewel of the world.

Posted by mossomo 2025-03-12 14:52|| 2025-03-12 14:52|| Front Page Top

#13 The EU's unweighted average tariff is 5.2%, that of the USA 3.5%, with 5,018 6-digit products recorded in the IFO customs database forming the basis of the calculation. These averages conceal high tariff peaks in many important sectors. So when Trump complains about "massive tariffs", he is not wrong, at least in some areas. At the same time, this complaint also applies - albeit to a lesser extent - to the US barriers. It would be time to think about a general reduction in the remaining tariffs worldwide. A downward adjustment
would be much better than an upward tariff increase.

Posted by European Conservative 2025-03-12 16:04|| 2025-03-12 16:04|| Front Page Top

#14 I love reading the intelligent commentary on this topic, but I've lost touch - has anyone actually paid any of these increased tariffs? Any consumer prices changed? Any adult beverages embargoed at the border?

Or are we still in the blustering and dooming phase?

Posted by Bobby 2025-03-12 16:13|| 2025-03-12 16:13|| Front Page Top

#15 No to tariffs. Period. Anywhere and everywhere.

Posted by DooDahMan 2025-03-12 17:45|| 2025-03-12 17:45|| Front Page Top

#16 A downward adjustment
would be much better than an upward tariff increase.

Agreed but what politician will voluntarily level the field without being forced to, when playing to lobbyists and voters? None. Trade wars or reasonable leveling. Your choice

Posted by Frank G 2025-03-12 17:50|| 2025-03-12 17:50|| Front Page Top

#17 It takes two to tango.
From the IFO study (2018)

Situation for EU exporters
Let's select products only for which the EU (US) import tariff is at least 5% and the total exports of the US (EU) amount to more than half a million US dollars.
The unweighted average US import tariff on these goods is 12.2%; the median tariff is 6.9% and the import-weighted average import tariff is 8.5%.

This means that (i) a few very high tariffs drive the average up from the median value and that (ii) weighting with import figures drives the average tariff down significantly because little trade takes place in products with high tariffs. For these products, the US share of total EU exports is around 13%; across all products, the US accounts for 21% of EU exports. So it is quite clear that high tariffs are hindering EU exports.
Dairy products are particularly affected by US tariffs; these average 20.3% for the six products recorded. For small trucks, the US import duty is on average 22%. High customs duties are also due on EU exports to the USA of handbags, jewelry and shoes. But tobacco products (48.7%), baby food (22.9%) and chocolate (9%) are subject to high tariffs on the one hand; on the other hand, European companies have relatively high sales on the world markets and are obviously competitive.

Situation for US exporters
This mainly concerns passenger cars, to which a 10% tariff is applied. Various foodstuffs are also heavily taxed. The situation is particularly extreme for beef, where import duties of almost 70% are payable. For pork, the figure is 26.4%, for apples 17.3% and for grapes 20.2%. The US is competitive in all these areas, but can only sell small quantities in Europe.
Relatively high tariffs are also due in the EU on small trucks (15%), motorcycles (6%), buses (13%) and tractor units (16%). In some of these areas, US exports are de facto zero, although the US supplies significant quantities of these products to other countries (which typically have lower tariff barriers).

TTIP wanted to solve these problems.

Posted by European Conservative 2025-03-12 18:30|| 2025-03-12 18:30|| Front Page Top

#18 we should also keep in mind that there are a lot of trade barriers and costs that are not tariffs. The include various licensing fees, certification requirements and all sorts of other things. I'm not at all sure we know the full extent of these.

As an example, at the Amsterdam Airport, compare the cost of a bottle or Coke and a bottle of Heineken.

I once said the USA has to overcome a sneakinss gap.

Posted by Lord Garth 2025-03-12 18:41|| 2025-03-12 18:41|| Front Page Top

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