[FlameOn]

Trump is now saying he is not afraid of a trade war with Canada despite it making very little sense for his own country.

President Trump on Tuesday downplayed concerns about a trade war with Canada after his administration slapped tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber.

“No,” the president told reporters when asked if he fears a trade war. “They have a tremendous surplus with the United States. Whenever they have a surplus, I have no fear.”

Trump’s decision to impose tariffs of as much as 24 percent on Canadian softwood imports ignited a long-simmering dispute between the two close trading partners.

Combined with his saber-rattling on the Canadian dairy market and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), it has sparked concerns about a broader trade conflict that could have significant effects on the U.S. economy.
Canada is the second-largest U.S. trading partner, with $575 billion in two-way goods exchanged in 2015.

Despite Trump’s comments, the trade relationship is relatively balanced. The U.S. only had a $15 billion trade deficit with Canada in 2015, according to figures compiled by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

http://thehill.com/homenews/administ...ar-with-canada

This is looking more and more like Trump trying to get a cheap win to distract from his floundering administration. He needs a 'win' so he can appear to look like he is actually doing something beneficial other than just enriching himself in his time in office. He cannot upset China now (by claiming they climate change is a Chinese conspiracy for example) as he needs their help with North Korea, so he is looking for someone else to bully. We have balanced trade with the US for the most part and a $400 million dollar dairy trade deficit. Softwood lumber has been ruled to be not subsidized by the WTO every time this has been brought up since the 80s and chooses now to start a trade war.

After bashing China incessantly on the campaign trail and through his first 80 or so days in office, Donald Trump appeared to back down once it became clear that he would need Xi Jinping’s help avoiding a nuclear standoff with North Korea. “Why would I call China a currency manipulator when they are working with us on the North Korean problem? We will see what happens!” he tweeted last week. The Trump administration is still making some vaguely nationalist noises in Beijing’s direction, launching a dumping investigation into China and other steel producers. But for the most part—for the time being—China is no longer Public Enemy No. 1. That’s a problem for Trump, who needs targets to bully like living things need air. And so with China off the table, he’s decided to look north.


Canada, for those of you who need a refresher, is one of the United States’ closest allies. It is the No. 1 buyer of our goods, with “a largely balanced trade relationship, totaling $635 billion in 2016.” Its prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has charitably said that President Trump, who appears to be perpetually in the midst of a temper tantrum, “actually listens and is open to changing his mind.” That same prime minister graciously treated First Daughter Ivanka Trump to a night at the theater in March (his wife was there, too, and he was presumably a perfect gentleman). In the first three months of Trump’s presidency, the nation has “flooded Washington with envoys,” including ambassador David MacNaughton, who praised the White House as “delightful to deal with.”

In short, Canada is the perfect neighbor—the kind you hope never moves away, leaving inconsiderate jerks who play music at all hours of the night and block your driveway in their place. So, naturally, Donald Trump has decided to treat Canada like crap.

And while Canada will not simply roll over and let Trump tell it how to run its dairy industry, the idea that the U.S. president will make Canada the target of his war on trade imbalances strikes many as just as absurd as it sounds. Or as political scientist Ian Bremmer puts it:

http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/...canada-tariffs