bats

Not for farmers, golf courses, professional lawn looker afterers. You can buy it in Canadian Tire or Home Hardware you only have to say that you are a farmer.

Shard

And a purchaser who is aware of and/or cares about the risk.

scrubbedexpat091

Talks with Canada have broken off for the weekend and will resume on Wednesday.

Trump has notified congress of his intent to sign a deal with Mexico (and Canada if willing) 90 days from now.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/naf...deau-1.4806240


Today was the last day to notify congress of a deal in order to have a deal with Mexico signed by December 1.

mrken30

Watch Trump threaten Congress when they mention that they are unable to meet Dec 1 deadline . As the CEO , he makes the rules

scrubbedexpat091

Will be interesting to see what congress does.

Shard

That, and to see what the new deal(s) actually are?

carcajou

Not bizarre. Likely a leverage play against Canada, to create a situation where Canada is boxed in - the US and Mexico have dictated the framework and Canada will either go along, get frozen out or some mix of the two.

scrubbedexpat091

The deal will have to be made public at some point I would imagine now that Trump has given congress the required 90 days notice.

As far as I know congress has to approve any deal made. They cant fillibuster or make changes but they can vote no and send it back.

Shard

It does seem like a case of 'if it ain't broke don't fix it' but Trump seems to enjoy being the wrecking ball president. I imagine the trade folk on both sides of the border are simply aiming at damage limitations.

carcajou

The Mexicans seem happy with the new agreement (or they wouldn't have been so eager to sign it), and Trump is off to a cordial start with AMLO. Mexico is equally as important to the US as Canada is - not sure why you think otherwise?

Anyways I'm sure Crystia Freeland - who, five years ago, had no diplomatic or government experience and was writing newspaper articles - is up to the task of dealing with Trump and the other DC saltwater crocodiles this week, and this won't at all be a steamrolling.

Shard

Not sure why you're jumping to conclusions?

caretaker

A little cut and paste:
U.S.-Mexico Trade Facts U.S. goods and services trade with Mexico totaled an estimated $615.9 billion in 2017. Exports were $276.2 billion; imports were $339.8 billion.
U.S.-Canada Trade Facts. U.S. goods and services trade with Canada totaled an estimated $673.1 billion in 2017. Exports were $340.7 billion; imports were $332.3 billion .

carcajou

Yeah. Effectively the same, especially considering that the US's total goods and services trade last year was about $4 trillion.

Canada's total goods and services trade is one-fifth that, and Canada has a lot more riding on these negotiations than the Americans do.

caretaker

Oh, I'd say the United States has quite a bit riding on this. We aren't the only country with a trade dispute with them, and we're closer than China or Europe. Canadian and American industries depend on each other just as much or more than Mexican and American. I think one option Congress has is to turn down the Mexican agreement because it isn't a 3 party contract - Canada has to be included. As far as I'm concerned Trump's posture as a corporate gunslinger who's going to clean up Dodge isn't making any money, it's just rhetoric for his rallies.

carcajou

Don't know what the US Congress will do, but betting on them rejecting it is not something Canada should rely on. The US Congress is not there to consider Canadian interests and that will not factor at all into their decision-making.

Fundamentally - shave $200 billion off US-Canadian trade, and it will immediately plunge Canada into serious recession. As you note - some American companies will get hit, and get hit hard - and the media will delight in finding those companies and doing feature stories on them. But out of a $4 trillion annual global trade - $200 billion is a drop in the bucket. The Americans can wait out a trade dispute with Canada.

Not saying that this is a desirable outcome, in any way. Obviously the best outcome is more trade and more money for both sides. But the Americans aren't losing any sleep over this, and Donald Trump is not worried at all that Crystia Freeland is coming to town.

Freeland, however, represents a country almost entirely dependent on US trade, and a boss with a plunging approval rating, and now faces the very realistic possibility that the US will just walk and do its own thing along with Mexico under a revised NAFTA without the Canadians.

Canada is not in a good place on this.