Timothy Birdnow

What? He'll send a nicely worded letter. Then if that fails he'll have no choice but send a nicely worded letter again.

Trudeau promises 'forceful and immediate' response from Canada to Trump's tariffs

While Baby Doc has been a feckless weakling he's in political trouble and will probably want to take a hard line against Trump to show how tough he can be. But there are plenty of fish in the sea and we can get from other countries what we currently buy from Canada. The inverse is not entirely true.

And Mexico? Fuggetabout it! We only import goods as a matter of convenience from them. If Trump squeezes the main employers down there - mostly American companies that moved to avoid regulations and high wages - will move back to the U.S., exactly as planned.

According to the U.S. State Department, since 2008, the U.S. has provided over $3 billion in assistance to Mexico to address crime and violence and enhance the country's rule of law. They won't get another penny from us.

According to government statistics:

"U.S. goods exports to Mexico in 2022 were $324.3 billion, up 17.0 percent ($47.2 billion) from 2021 and up 50 percent from 2012. U.S. goods imports from Mexico totaled $454.8 billion in 2022, up 18.9 percent ($72.2 billion) from 2021, and up 64 percent from 2012."

So we have less to lose than Mexico, decidedly so. And what goods are we importing and what exporting?

Mexico exports commodities and crude oil to the U.S. as well as auto parts and cars (made by American companies). The U.S. exports complex electronics, computers, all the tech stuff which Mexico MUST have but can't make for itself. We can replace most of Mexico's exports - they can't. Same as with Canada (although the trade imbalance is reversed with Canada.)

Trump knows what he's doing with all this. Just forcing Mexico to take back their invading illegals is going to squeeze them into negotiations. And Canada may be a tougher nut to crack but they need us and know it. You can't piss off a neighbor with an economy ten times the ssize of your own and expect to win.

Mexico has a GDP of $1.818 trillion U.S. collars. Canada $2.117 trillion. The U.S. comes in at $30.340 trillion dollars. You do the math.

This is like a chipmonk trying to fight a bear.

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 01:54 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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