Canada's Trauma in the Face of Trump's Threats to Impose Tariffs
Unseemly Last Minute Running Hither and Thither to Placate Trump
Some federal and provincial government ministers and officials are reported to be in Washington DC to attempt to stave off tariffs that the Trump administration says will be levied on February 1. The antics of those who are running hither and thither neither placate Trump nor enlighten Canadians in any way, shape or form about the significance of the issue of tariffs. The views of these public figures are muddled and they appear to feel no obligation to arm people with the truth about international trade. They bombard people with nonsense to obscure the real self-serving aims of their policy.
CBC
reports that at his U.S. Senate confirmation hearing, Howard
Lutnick,
Trump's nominee for Commerce Secretary who will be responsible
for
implementing the tariff policy, said that there will be two
phases to
the tariffs, the first being an emergency action on February 1
to deal
with
the fentanyl crisis. In an exchange with Michigan Senator Gary
Peters,
Lutnick said that drug labs in Canada are run by Mexican cartels
and
that Canada should shut the border and end fentanyl coming into
the U.S.
The CBC fails to ask, let alone answer, the obvious question: What does the importation of illicit fentanyl have to do with tariffs? Both involve cross-border movement of goods but the similarity ends there. No attempt is made by any of these public figures to explain why stronger enforcement of cross-border drug trafficking would be a good plan to avert tariffs.
Specifics of the second phase are not yet known. However, Lutnick made clear that the U.S. is looking at a broad range of tariff options which will be informed by a study Trump has ordered be completed by April 1. There will be "scores to settle with Canada," Lutnick said, specifically mentioning dairy and auto manufacturing. The aim, he said, is to bring auto manufacturing back to the U.S. from Canada and Mexico. He also made it clear that his preference is across-the-board tariffs, not sector by sector.
Fundamental questions on the issue of Canada-USA trade include:
Who owns the exporters that stand to be affected by tariffs on goods exported to the USA? Are they Canadian or are they branch plants of American companies? Who exactly would benefit from tariffs? And who pays?
What is the merchandise trade balance between Canada and the U.S., generally and in specific sectors? Is it, as Trump says, a huge imbalance in favour of Canada? Even if it is as he says, how much of the exports from Canada involves the plunder of unprocessed natural resources and how much is manufactured goods?
How does the merchandise trade balance compare to the imbalance on the services account? The huge amount owed on public debt to foreign investors is a big drain on the resources available to provide services to Canadians.
Without knowledge of these important aspects of the issue of trade, Canadians are left defenceless and unable to form a coherent view. This is exemplified by media accounts of what various public figures are doing in the final hours prior to Trump's expected February 1 imposition of tariffs on goods from Canada entering the U.S.
According to the CBC report: "Ottawa officials have been reaching out to various American counterparts, including Lutnick, and have heard little that left them reassured. One reply they've repeatedly received: They need to personally convince Trump with direct evidence of the security measures Canada has taken. To that end, Canadian officials have been cobbling together video footage to illustrate efforts to deter illicit movement across the border; they've been sending U.S. counterparts this footage in recent weeks, including a helicopter landing in snow.
The level of political discourse is lowered by making everything personal, episodic, its pertinence and aim eclipsed, as these reports show.
The CBC report continues: "Some provincial premiers are also involved: On Wednesday, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said she invited a Fox News crew to the border at Coutts, Alta., to see border-control measures there and promised additional provincial police actions."
Canada's Ambassador to the U.S., Kirsten Hillman, is quoted saying "The administration is fully briefed on Canada's border measures .... But as Mr. Lutnick said in his testimony the administration wants to see that Canada is executing on our plan. We are. We have new equipment, including helicopters and surveillance equipment that is being deployed. We are mounting a Canada-U.S. strike force to fight organized crime and drug smuggling. We have reduced illegal movement from Canada to the U.S. by 89 per cent in recent months. We are laying out all of these results and more to the U.S. administration."
News reports also inform that Public Safety Minister David McGuinty went to Washington on January 30 to meet with U.S. officials to bring them up to speed on border security. McGuinty is said to have told reporters that Canada is actively sharing video footage with the U.S. to show Canada Border Service Agency personnel and RCMP officers at work along the border, CBC says. It says the video was not made public but showcases the new equipment and security measures detailed in Canada's $1.3 billion plan which includes leasing two Blackhawk helicopters from the U.S. and 60 drones, along with new mobile surveillance teams and new canine units that can sniff out fentanyl and track down the routes migrants are taking.
In other words, Canada continues to conciliate with U.S. violations of the fundamental rights of migrants, immigrants and refugees, and international law in the name of war on drugs despite all the reports which confirm CIA involvement in drug trafficking to finance counterrevolutionary groups to overthrow governments. "War on Drugs" is a well-known cover for committing crimes against humanity in myriad ways.
Also on January 30, an article by Federal Minister of Transport and Internal Trade, Anita Anand, was published in the Toronto Star in which she calls for the elimination of barriers to inter-provincial trade. Without a hint of recognition that Canadians should be involved in setting the direction of Canada's economy and matters related to the sharing of powers between federal and provincial levels of government, she writes that the federal government "has taken a number of steps to strengthen internal trade by harmonizing regulations relating to agricultural products, cutting red tape in transportation in the oil and gas field and helping fund the National Registry of Physicians to enhance doctor mobility," to name a few. "Cutting red tape" and "enhancing mobility" are well known code when implementing anti-social measures.
As concerns the health care system, Canadians are calling for increased funding to make sure the system is properly staffed with doctors and nurses. The letter, however, calls on the provinces to work with the federal government to, for example, change certificate recognition and licensing processes that would allow health care workers to move from province to province. Canadians are justly skeptical about phrases such as "enhancing doctor mobility" and changing "certificate recognition and licensing processing" as they have been used to push privatization. Changing regulations so that wine producers can sell their products in other provinces is presented as something everyone wants but in fact, without ending the control of the economy by oligopolies and international financial oligarchs, how do Canadians benefit from any of these measures?
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in a televised address on January 31, explained nothing. He responded to Trump's threats saying, "It's not what we want, but if he moves forward, we will also act." Trump threatens and the role of the government is to amplify the sound to make sure it reverberates through every cell of the society. "I won't sugarcoat it -- our nation could be facing difficult times in the coming days and weeks," Trudeau said.
Besides allotting $1.3 billion in last fall's economic statement, amongst other measures, to further militarize Canada's border with the U.S., Canadians have yet to hear any specifics of Canada's responses but they are sure to be reprehensible by working in tandem with the Trump administration to make sure impunity prevails. The border plan includes a joint strike force and an "around the clock" aerial surveillance unit for ports of entry, as illustrated in the video the Public Safety Minister is circulating. Militarizing the border and militarizing Canada to protect the interests of oligopolies and make sure the people play no role by advancing their own agenda and interests, are unacceptable.
"No one – on either side of the border -- wants to see American tariffs on Canadian goods. I met with our Canada-U.S. Council today. We're working hard to prevent these tariffs, but if the United States moves ahead, Canada's ready with a forceful and immediate response," Trudeau posted on X.
A government which integrates Canada into the U.S. war economy is not fit to rule!
This article was published in
Volume 55
Number 1 - January 2025
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2025/Articles/M550011.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca