13h ago

U.S. wants to ditch trade ‘status quo,’ Lutnick says after Canadian talks

globalnews.ca U.S. wants to ditch trade ‘status quo,’ Lutnick says after Canadian talks - National | Globalnews.ca

Ministers Dominic LeBlanc and Francois-Philippe Champagne, along with Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Canada's ambassador, met with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick Thursday.

This statement came after the meeting with Doug and the fed ministers.

39 comments

They desperately want to flood our protected markets and crash our economy and are pissed we aren't letting them - hence the threats. Literally every interaction we have had with the Donald government has been a goddamn threat. Let us crush your local production, let us have your resources, let us have the Arctic, etc etc
- US is negotiating in bad faith. They don't care for a deal, they are working to ruin the relationship.
  They are doing the same with Ukraine.
  
  Some Art of the Deal there from the old Donny. I know it was a ghost writer who wrote the book and Trump has probably never read it but it is just interesting.
- They need to learn to grow the fuck up and learn you can't have everything.
  
  They still, to this day, do everything they can to make the people of Cuba suffer for their decision to stop Usamerican exploitation of their land/labour/resources, decades ago.
- They desperately want to flood our protected markets and crash our economy and are pissed we aren’t letting them - hence the threats. Literally every interaction we have had with the Donald government has been a goddamn threat. Let us crush your local production, let us have your resources, let us have the Arctic, etc etc
  I think this argument is missing the bigger picture. Trade isn’t some one-sided plot by the U.S. to "take over" Canada—it’s about negotiations, and sometimes, yes, that includes pressure tactics. But the real issue here isn’t some grand conspiracy to flood our markets and crash our economy. It’s that the U.S. often pushes for one-sided trade deals that benefit them more than us, and we push back. That’s not an attack—it’s just how trade disputes work.
  The real question is: why should Canada keep such heavily protected markets in sectors like dairy and telecommunications while expecting full access to the U.S. market? Competition is a good thing—it leads to lower prices and better services. Imagine getting European cheeses at a fraction of the cost or finally having real telecom competition. If the U.S. is willing to open its markets to our regional airliners, our softwood lumber, and other key exports, why wouldn’t we negotiate on equal footing?
  The problem isn't trade itself—it’s unfair trade. If the U.S. wants access to our markets, we should be getting equivalent access to theirs. That’s the real fight here. Instead of seeing this as a U.S. plot to crush Canada, we should be focused on securing a deal that works both ways—whether that means better market access, fairer tariffs, or even things like freer movement of citizens across borders.
  The goal should be fair trade, not a lopsided deal where one side wins at the expense of the other.
  
  Cancon is a good counter to your argument. Without it, our music scene would be nothing.
  https://junoawards.ca/blog/a-former-hater-comes-clean/
  
  American shills everywhere. Just go away. We will see you soon enough.
  
  Are you willing to die for Trump? Are your loved ones?
  
  You say they should have the same access to our market that we have to theirs. The problem with this argument is that their economy and production capabilities are 10x what ours are. If we open up to the same degree, they will crush our tiny market by just flooding it easily. You can't have "equal" access when one economy is 10x the size of the other. We are not equal economies. Yes Canada punches above its weight, but not to the same level as the US. This is why we need to be careful to not let them just flood us. Check the difference between equal vs equitable.
  
  I don't follow this argument.
  If our local industries cannot survive in an environment where we "fully open up trade" to the supposed benefit of making things better by having competition -- a point I also don't agree with; cheaper does not always mean better, and I don't want to only have certain American food products of lower quality for example -- that means that we then become entirely reliant on America in those sectors. When that happens what is the outcome of the next spat with them? We need to be more self-reliant, not less.
  
  You know trump negotiated the last trade deal, right? Canada has protections set up so the American oligarchs can’t take over Canada like they’re doing down south
  
  Some market have strategic value other are essentials and you need to control. Under cutting local producers until they give up means you can price gouge after and make huge profits. Deregulate milk and see your farmers disappear, you become dependant on a not so friendly neighbor.

They need a bunch of stuff from Canada, and they know it. Why they're playing dumb like that, we'll never know.
- We really ought to stop exports of anything their military needs, for national security reasons. "National security" is one of Trump's favorite justifications, so I'm sure he'll understand.
  
  That's how you definitely get invaded. Cover Canada in spikes before you do something like that.
- To make it look like we are treating them unfairly. They are trying to make Canada look like the bad guy.
  
  The only people who actually believe that "Canada is the bad guy" are the dumbest of the dumb Republican voters. Most people with any sense can see that Trump is the asshole here. Every other world leader, except for putin, publically acknowledges this.
  I will also add that Lutnick is a massive piece of shit and paints trump as the saint of all saints. Canada shouldn't even bother having talks with any of their representatives if they're playing pigeon chess.
- Are we sure they're playing dumb, and aren't just actually dumb?
  
  American here. We are dumb. And dangerous. He’s probably going to go after Panama and Mexico first, but make no mistake, he will come for Canada if he can.
  Please take the opportunity to remind us why the Geneva Convention is such a long list.
  
  Perhaps half way in-between.

So basically they cant look after themselves, and believe its up to the rest of the world to feed them.

Nutlick says what now.

There seems to be no way out of this without serious threats..
- It is serious. Don's an unhinged grifter, but he's also just a puppet president, imo. He's got orders to follow, but he's also a dangerous narcissist with a long leash. Musk is just fucked up these days. He's just trying to syphon as much money as he can, while losing billions at the same time. He had to know he was.tanking Tesla, but he got his $55 billion dollar paycheck from them.

39 comments