Dave Winer: Scripting News
If only political reporters had the same knowledge of their subject as sports reporters do. #
CBC: Can Canada just build its own cars? Experts say no — here’s why, and what we could do instead
On Monday, Trump told a Fox News reporter that he would levy a tariff of up to 100 per cent on Canadian-made automobiles, “if [the U.S. doesn’t] make a deal with Canada.”
That same day, he announced a 25 per cent tariff on imported steel and aluminum to take effect March 12.
But the auto industry has become so integrated over the past 60 years as a result of successive free trade agreements that car components travel across the Canada-U.S. border multiple times before a final vehicle rolls off the assembly line, said Dimitry Anastakis, a professor in the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.
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Frise said Americans will also find themselves struggling as a result of the tariffs and tariff threats.
About 90 per cent of the aluminum used in the auto industry comes from Quebec, he said.
“They can’t realistically replace it,” Frise said.
“The key ingredient is really enormous amounts of electrical energy. And it has to be electrical, and the U.S. doesn’t have the generating capacity to do it. …They’d have to build, I don’t know, half a dozen nuclear power plants.”
CBC: Trump complains about Canada — but new data shows spike in U.S. drugs and guns coming north
President Donald Trump claims he’s targeting Canada with punishing tariffs on all our goods because he’s concerned about the country’s supposedly lax approach to fentanyl and migrants.
But new data from the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) shows Canada has a reason to worry about what’s pouring in from the U.S.
There’s been an influx of illegal American drugs and guns, which experts and law enforcement say are fuelling crime, death and addiction on this side of the border, too.
Globe: Carney says he may call early election if he becomes prime minister
Former central banker Mark Carney opened the door to an early election call if he is elected by Liberal members to replace Justin Trudeau as party leader and prime minister in a March 9 leadership vote.
Mr. Carney, the perceived front-runner for the Liberal leadership, has been crisscrossing the country to introduce himself to rank-and-file party members and announcing some policy initiatives.
At a news conference in Vancouver Thursday, Mr. Carney said the country is preoccupied with U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat of hefty tariffs against all Canadian goods, including aluminum and steel. Canada must respond to the economic challenges posed by Mr. Trump’s America-first agenda, he said.
I don’t think a quick election call after a change of leader has ever worked for a party, but “There’s a first time for everything.”
U.S. president Donald Trump threatened to unleash a major escalation of his trade war by hitting economic partners with reciprocal tariffs.
On Thursday afternoon, Washington time, he ordered his economic and trade advisers to consider imposing the new tariffs on trading partners on a country-by-country basis. Howard Lutnick, Trump’s nominee to lead the Commerce Department, told reporters the studies should be complete by the start of April and that Mr. Trump could act immediately afterward.
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If Mr. Trump goes forward with the 25 per cent tariffs on Canada and Mexico, the total direct cost of the import taxes on Chinese, Mexican and Canadian goods would be the equivalent to a US$1,200 yearly tax hike for the typical American household, a report published early this month by the Peterson Institute of Washington said.
The first rule is: when you’re in a deep hole, stop digging!
Globe: Many Canadians willing to ditch U.S. travel and alcohol but not streaming services: poll
A Leger survey that polled 1,590 Canadians between Feb. 7 and Feb. 10, 2025 suggests an overwhelming majority of Canadians – 81 per cent – have significantly increased how many Canadian-made products they buy, or will do so soon.
But only 28 per cent of Canadians told the pollster they have or will be cancelling their subscriptions to U.S. streaming services, compared with 34 per cent who say they will not be cancelling them.
Making them a great target for retaliatory tariffs.
About one in three people polled also said they are unwilling to stop making online purchases from U.S.-based companies.
Last Updated: 13.Feb.2025 16:26 EST
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