Tariffs Czar
I want to start this one by saying that if I’m able to write everything that’s in my head about the topic, it will be a longer text than usual (and if that’s not the case, I won’t come back here to correct this sentence).
So, get ready :)
If you’re reading this text (and are, of course, literate), you are likely aware of the number of wars started by the US, either directly or by proxy: Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Gaza, Ukraine, just to name a few. They’re a country that inspires to be a huge empire by threatening and militarily imposing themselves over other nations. That’s also the reason why they have military bases all over the globe, especially around countries they consider enemies.
It is not uncommon, also, that they try to interfere in other countries’ politics and economy. Most Latin American countries were -let’s say- poked at least once by the US and one of their three-letter organizations, the Cuban population has suffered for many years from sanctions imposed on the country, and a recent example brought us the failed coup in South Korea.
Usually, it really does not matter who’s in charge of the country. Democrats and Republicans show equivalent behaviour but use different wallpapers for the White House, which usually makes people think they are different. But, of course, the authoritarian country where people have no freedom to choose their representatives is China ;)
The paragraphs above are a VERY brief overview of how the United States like to play around the globe. And, yes, I’m ignoring internal topics like how they treat minorities -but that’s a topic for another time. I wrote very briefly about this topic here.
When the current US president was inaugurated, he fulfilled some of his campaign promises and started to take a few actions that continued the external politics trend I mentioned above. News articles and media content were quickly invaded by a ton of nonsense. For reasonable people, it’s a period of multiple “did he say what now?”
Two of those lines impact Canada in one way or another. One of those -which I have absolutely NO IDEA why people are even entertaining the discussion- is about Canada being incorporated into the United States as the “51st state.” And, just like that, I will choose to ignore this.
The second topic, however, deserves some conversation -<play scary music> THE TARIFFS </end scary music>.
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As Trump points out in his book (how can someone who’s been classified as having the same communication level as a 4th grader co-wrote a book is something we will never know…), his negotiation tactics always start by threatening and attacking, so he can gain leverage and get a deal closer to what he wants. And, yes, I believe this is the case -he already backed down (or “paused” for one month) the threat to add 25% tariffs on Canadian products entering the US.
Now, this is where I wanted to reach.
I have not been living in Canada for too long and have been a Canadian for an even shorter time, but something that I have noticed already is how close to the United States this country is. Not only geographically, but many brands and products Canadians consume are from there. A lot of the movies, music, and culture that Canadians have come from the US. Of course, there are many differences between how Canadians and US citizens (and a gentle reminder that even though they are “Americans,” they’re not the only ones -Cubans, Mexicans, Jamaicans, Brazilians, and all of the others are also “Americans”- as “America” is a continent, not a country) behave and see the world, but this is also a topic for some other time.
My point here is that Canadian bands and companies are seriously harmed since the Canadian economy is so connected to the US economy. The United States has a bigger internal market, better transportation infrastructure, a stronger currency, and -more importantly- the power to impose its will (remember the military topic from above?). Their products will arrive in other countries with serious advantages compared to the local ones.
Now that this threat by Donald J. Trump (by the way, I saw somewhere that J stands for “Jenius”) has sparked a serious “buy Canadian products” campaign and internal discussions, I believe that we’re in a VERY interesting and crucial moment. This has united all sides of politics (but a few weirdos) and might be the moment to start something really good.
If the Canadian population is more willing to buy national brands and products, the country HAS TO USE THE MOMENTUM. If we make the right push, Canadian companies can grow significantly, and the country can leave more and more economic dependency on the service sector (while buying products from other countries, including the US) and create a robust, strong, and solid industrial network.
Canada has land, natural resources, brains, and the potential manpower to build that. Why not?
The trick here is that NO big industrialization push has ever happened without public investment. The federal and provincial governments have to massively invest in infrastructure, R&D, and -depending on the case- public companies. Without this, the companies won’t and can’t do the push. And, yes, I firmly believe that governments have to deal with, interfere with, and lead the economy. Nobody from the private sector will take those big risks and invest in any of those topics -all of the infrastructure projects, all of the big research projects worldwide, and all of the technological jumps worldwide in mankind's history are public-funded and pushed. Think about 99% of the inventions and technological jumps, and you will find that it was either driven by a public entity, public-funded, or both.
So, my point here is that we’re in a very interesting moment in Canadian history and I’m afraid we might lose that. We might lose because, even though there’s almost unanimity that we want to buy more Canadian companies, there’s still that part of the public that thinks that the government shouldn’t interfere -and these people are objectively wrong.
We have the will and the means. I REALLY hope that we don’t waste that, as we might not have the chance of having someone so weird leading our neighbour that it unites most Canadians anytime soon again.
And to keep this even more Canadian, please and sorry.
Cheers.
