Any Canadians’ thoughts about new trade agreement

[RollTime]

Seems to me (American) you guys would be pretty annoyed with the situation.

Am I right or do you guys not really care?

[Okjoek]

I still need to read up on what we just did with Mexico. Anyone want to TLDR me that?

[RollTime]

1 hour ago, Okjoek said:

I still need to read up on what we just did with Mexico. Anyone want to TLDR me that?

 Trump says NAFTA is bad and wants a new deal, which Canada isn't a fan of.

(I think, correct me if I'm wrong)

[Guest]

40 minutes ago, RollTime said:

 Trump says NAFTA is bad and wants a new deal, which Canada isn't a fan of.

(I think, correct me if I'm wrong)

Oof. 

 

I mean if he’s helping America, it’s benefitting America as he stated his goals were. 

[Yoinkerman]

It's ridiculous from up here in Canada.

 

Literally everything trump says is factually incorrect, especially about trade.

 

An easy one is he whines about lumber.  Do you know why there's a huge market for Canadian lumber for building homes?  Because the US cannot produce enough of its own.  That's it.

[dalekphalm]

55 minutes ago, Yoinkerman said:

It's ridiculous from up here in Canada.

 

Literally everything trump says is factually incorrect, especially about trade.

 

An easy one is he whines about lumber.  Do you know why there's a huge market for Canadian lumber for building homes?  Because the US cannot produce enough of its own.  That's it.

Yeah he has a habit of making up "facts" to make it seem like Canada is somehow taking advantage of America during our trades - spoiler alert: We're not.

 

The other big contention is our Dairy system - we have a supply management system in place. What this does, is ensure that dairy producers make enough dairy to meet actual retail demands, and then some extra for export (we don't even export that much). We also limit how much dairy can be imported into Canada, so as to not flood our supply.

 

Why this is good:

It ensures a stable supply of dairy. Prices don't change much because we make enough to meet the demands, so there are no shortages. Prices also don't change much, because we only make enough extra to meet export requirements, so there's never an excess of dairy products.

 

Why this is bad:

Some suggest prices might be lower if we didn't have a quota system, because they feel it artificially inflates prices. They also think that we could get cheaper product if we allow more imports.

 

Here's the thing: They're not wrong about the price being lower - at least, not fully. But that's still not a good thing. America heavily subsidizes the dairy industry, even while they bitch at our supply management system. Because of this, they produce farrrrrrrrrr too much dairy - so much so that they literally dump it down the drain when they can't find foreign buyers.

 

Basically, Trump wants to Flood the Canadian dairy market with the excess dairy they have, which would massively drop prices (good for buyers), which would destroy the local producers (bad for Canadian economy), and then when supply dries up (because America can't sell at a loss forever, once production settles), prices would go up (bad for buyers), and our dairy industry would be in shambles.

 

Sure it's possible this won't happen, but I'd rather not take the chance - our dairy system works well for Canadians.

 

Anyway, Mexico and the US made some preliminary agreements, and now Canada is rushing to get in on the deal or risk being shut out completely.

 

It's a bad situation for Canada. On one hand, we don't want to be left out of the new agreement. But on the other hand, we don't want to be forced into agreeing to a trade agreement that is one-sided or otherwise bad for Canada.

 

The big problem is that Trump is not a good negotiator. He's a bully. He's not interested in an agreement that is fair for everyone - he wants to get everything he wants, and wants his opponents to give up everything. He's not negotiating in good faith.

 

Some Americans think that's good, because it means America will get a better deal - and maybe you're right - but in the process, he's pissing off his Allies, and he doesn't even seem to be willing to compromise or look for a common solution.

 

TL;DR, Canada isn't happy about the situation, but we're still hopeful to find a good and working long term solution.

[Drak3]

14 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

The big problem is that Trump is not a good negotiator. He's a bully. He's not interested in an agreement that is fair for everyone - he wants to get everything he wants, and wants his opponents to give up everything. He's not negotiating in good faith.

TL;DR Trump is treating our "allies" the same way they've treated us for a long time.

[dalekphalm]

Just now, Drak3 said:

TL;DR Trump is treating our "allies" the same way they've treated us for a long time.

Agree to disagree on that point - Canada, in particular, has not taken advantage of the US. The areas in which we heavily export items into the US are because the US doesn't (or can't) support domestic needs - Canadian Lumber is one main example here.

 

We also supply the US with Electricity and other things.

 

As for their other allies? No idea how well those trade agreements have stood up.

 

Besides, even if it was the case (which it's not), the fact that Trump wants to act in the same (perceived) way that they've acted towards the US? That's not fixing a problem, that's getting revenge.

[Crunchy Dragon]

-Thread locked-

 

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