The USA gloated that it does not need Canada. Now, the shoe is on the other foot, with the USA begging Canada for more energy supply, with darkness and cold spells in its northern states evolving. For those northern USA states, the candle has been blown out. Vegas is also suffering with visitors avoiding the USA. Why risk being accosted by Trump's ICE goons when the world is so wide and destinations begging without the risk.
As I said earlier, Canada is in the crosshairs of Trump, now threatening to impose a 100% tariff on Canada if the trade agreements between China and Canada is formalized and expanded. Why is Trump doing that, since the USA boasted that it does not need Canada? Am I missing something? And will Carney lose his marbles in the face of those threats? Left to be seen.
Trump appears adamant in making Canada as the 51st state of the USA. The Canadians have much on their hands now and only cutting off all trade with the USA will solve their problem. No exports to the USA mean that even a 1000% tariff achieves nothing.
And that makes me want to talk about Finnish PM, Petteri Orpo, leading a large delegation to visit Beijing, from 25 to 28 January, not to exchange T-shirts definitely, but to talk business and opening up alternatives. Finnish leaders had perhaps an inkling of what is in store for them with Trump mentioning Finland in the same breath as Greenland, possibly looking to add Finland as the 52nd state to the USA. I just wonder what will need to be fabricated and hyped up by the USA inventors to warrant an impending attack on Finland. Can someone help me with a guess? If Finland gets a good deal from China, I can guess myself that a 100% tariff will be on the cards. Want to bet?
Anonymous
1 comment:
As more trade is diverted away from the USA, the tariff factor is wearing thin. China has shown the world how it is done to counter tariffs. Just move trade away from the USA by exporting less to the USA and Trump can do nothing about it. But to do that, they must first build up markets and alternatives. And the Europeans are taking the cue, hopefully.
There is now a realization that BRICS is becoming more important for the rest of the world than originally envisaged, with trade with the global south moving exponentially forward, particularly in and with Africa. And is all done outside the US$ hegemony. Little by little, the US$ hegemony is being eroded, nothing spectacular, nothing alarming, nothing making headlines and nothing to create chaos.
With the Europeans now making a beeline towards China, those trade deals will obviously be done either in Euros or Yuan and definitely not in US$. And it must be said that those visits are principally all about trade, as China is neither a military threat nor looking to annex any European state, unlike the USA.
This opening up of trade relations by the EU with China and also India is a big problem for the US$ hegemony and hits a raw nerve in Trump. There will be more threats issued, more tantrums thrown and more tariff increases. But all these are making USA's European allies even more convinced that China is turning into a more responsible trading partner than the USA. Unless the USA can take over the whole of Europe, destroying NATO per se, there is nothing Trump can do about it. Even the UK, that was and is a historical hardcore supporter of the USA, is looking towards China for an alternative solution to its economic problem.
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