Trade war looming between Canada and US

[pkt]

Tell me what you think of this.
CDA have taken the US to arbitartion at NAFTA and WTO and won at every turn.
CDA have always tried to avoid 'linkage', i.e. linking the sale of one commodity to another.
Now this.
The most likely linkage target will be energy.
FYI: CDA supply more energy to the US than Saudi Arabia oil.
So, are you guys braced for even higher energy costs?

PK

http://vancouver.cbc.ca/regionalnews...r20041115.html

Trade war looming, warns B.C. minister
WebPosted Nov 15 2004 10:11 AM PST

VANCOUVER - B.C. Forests Minister Mike de Jong says the latest U.S. move in the softwood lumber fight could lead to an all-out trade war.

Montana Senator Max Baucus [D] is about to introduce a bill that would allow [4] billions of dollars in lumber duties from Canadian companies to be given to U.S. forest companies.

[This is the 1st para. of the CBC post. - PK]

[Epee_Pox]

Ergh. Tariffs are a bad idea. Especially when imposed against free-trade partners like Canada. The only time they do any good is when imposed against countries that are themselves imposing stupid tariffs.

I hope this proposal dies a quick death in Congress. As the Republicans control it, this is somewhat likely. But then again...

[Inquartata]

Bear in mind that this is neither law nor Administration policy, at least not yet. It is merely a bill, and one not yet even introduced---a parochial featherbedding bill of the sort which often goes nowhere in Congress, at that, especially when coming out of states as, um, influential as Montana. And it's being pushed by a member of the Democratic minority to boot. It's a long way from being a done deal.

[CutLass]

Ergh. Tariffs are a bad idea. Especially when imposed against free-trade partners like Canada. The only time they do any good is when imposed against countries that are themselves imposing stupid tariffs.

I hope this proposal dies a quick death in Congress. As the Republicans control it, this is somewhat likely. But then again...

Probably not enough money for the big corporate CEOs to save Canada. Most of their investments are overseas. See the reforms favor the middle east and eastern asian country companies.

[pkt]

...Most of their investments are overseas. ...

... as in China, or other east & south Asia countries who are racing to underbid one another to get these US business: a race to the bottom.

which brings me to a good related article on Walmart
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl...ce_login=false
Welcome to the scary world of Wal-Mart
By JOHN DOYLE

Tuesday, November 16, 2004, Page R2

After wracking my wee brain for a minute I decided, yes, definitely: I've never actually been to a Wal-Mart. I don't even know where I'd find one in my neck of the woods.

He listed the case of Rubbermaid and the last TV manufacturer in the US suing the Chinese manufacturer for selling TVs in the states below cost. In the latter case, Wal-Mart sided with.... the Chinese maufacturer.

JOHN DOYLE's basic point is this:"There's an unspoken undercurrent in the program. [PBS : Is Wal-Mart Good for America?"]
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/
Wal-Mart has become synonymous with Bush-supporting America. It's become shorthand for small-town, conservative America and its Republican voters. The rich and trenchant irony is that the Wal-Mart they love is destroying the manufaturing industries that have given them work and spendng money."

Read the interviews. It's VERY illuminating:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontl...rt/interviews/
Haha, talk about a case of unintended consequences:
Trading with China: Expectations vs reality
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontl...ina/trade.html

US businesses was correct to assume that with its 1.3B people China is a good place to do business. They never realised that things would totally reverse. Instead of the US selling its merchandise to China, the best scenario is that US-jointly owned companies, if not, Chinese-owned comapnies are selling teu-loads of merchandise to the US thus causing many US citizens to lose their jobs. If US citizens are out of work, will they be able to buy any goods, wherever they are made?

"Overall, the U.S. trade deficit with China reached a record $124 billion dollars in 2003 and the figure is headed even higher this year. Today, U.S. imports from China outpace U.S. exports to China by more than five to one, and the deficit shows no signs of abating.

"These deficits are much larger than the trade deficits that the United States experienced in the 1980s and 1990s with Asian trading partners such as Japan. Put in historical perspective, America's current trade deficit with China is roughly double what it was at its height with Japan in the mid-1980s, when trade frictions between the U.S. and Japan led Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-Texas) to famously declare on the floor of the U.S. Senate: "We're in a trade war, and we're losing it." "

PK

[Inquartata]

"Wal-Mart has become synonymous with Bush-supporting America. It's become shorthand for small-town, conservative America and its Republican voters. The rich and trenchant irony is that the Wal-Mart they love is destroying the manufaturing industries that have given them work and spendng money."

Ah, why am I not surprised that he makes this "connection"?
WalMart=Bush=bad. Such trenchant logic.