Category: Trade

Victor Davis Hanson: Donald Trump’s Trade Parity ‘Golden Age’ Explained

Adversaries and allies alike have been ripping off the United States with “asymmetrical tariffs” for decades. Now, Trump is fighting back. “Whatever a particular country tariffs us, we reciprocate and just mirror image them. In other words, it’s their choice, not ours,” VDH says. In this edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words,” Victor Davis Hanson explains the history behind tariffs and how other countries have taken advantage of America’s no-tariff policy for years. “It was all predicated on the postwar period. We were so affluent, so powerful—Europe, China, Russia were in shambles—that we had to take up the burden of reviving the economy by taking on great trade deficits,” Victor Davis Hanson says. We can’t afford to remain neutral in the trade war that’s been happening for decades. “If tariffs are so destructive of their economies, why is China booming?” Victor Davis Hanson asks. If you can’t get enough of Victor Davis Hanson from The Daily Signal, subscribe to his official YouTube channel: / @victordavishanson7273   He’s also the host of “The Victor Davis Hanson Show,” available wherever you prefer to watch or listen. Links to the show and exclusive content are available on his website: https://victorhanson.com/

Outgoing PM Trudeau Declares Trade War In Response To Trump Tariffs: ‘We Will Not Back Down’

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during a news conference about the US tariffs against Canada on March 4, 2025 on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, as (L-R) Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, Minister of Finance and Intergovernmental Affairs Dominic Leblanc and Minister of Public Safety David McGuinty look on. Trudeau said that President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on Canada to destroy the country's economy to make it easier for the United States to annex its northern neighbor. The extraordinary warning about Trump's threat to Canadian sovereignty came as the US president delivered on his vow to impose 25 percent tariffs on all Canadian goods. (Photo by Dave Chan / AFP) (Photo by DAVE CHAN/AFP via Getty Images)
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during a news conference about the US tariffs against Canada on March 4, 2025 on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, as (L-R) Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, Minister of Finance and Intergovernmental Affairs Dominic Leblanc and Minister of Public Safety David McGuinty look on. (Photo by DAVE CHAN/AFP via Getty Images)

OAN Staff James Meyers
12:10 PM – Tuesday, March 4, 2025

Outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused President Donald Trump of declaring a “dumb” trade war on Canada — maintaining that his country “will not back down.”

Trudeau spoke publicly hours after Trump enacted new tariffs against Mexico, Canada, and China.

He announced a 25% levy on “C$30 billion worth of U.S. imports, effective immediately.” Tariffs on another C$125 billion in U.S. goods will take effect in 21 days, he added, CNBC reported.

The prime minister went on to warn Trump and the U.S.

“A fight with Canada will have no winners,” Trudeau asserted as he addressed reporters in Ottawa while discussing the country’s response to the tariffs. “They point out that even though you’re a very smart guy, this is a very dumb thing to do,” he continued, addressing the president by his first name, Donald.

Trudeau pleaded for Canadians to “pull together,” and he vowed that Americans will feel the impact of these tariffs. Additionally, the outgoing Canadian leader accused Trump of purposely imposing the tariffs in an effort to collapse the Canadian economy — in order to make it easier to annex the country.

“We will never be the 51st state, but he can do damage to the Canadian economy, and he’s started this morning, but he is rapidly going to find out, as American families are going to find out, that that’s going to hurt people on both sides of the border.”

Canada has the world’s ninth largest economy and sits at around $2.3 trillion, which is only nearly the same size as the U.S. state of New York.

 

(Screenshot via: Google AI – a feature within Google Search that uses artificial intelligence to generate comprehensive summaries of information on a topic)

Nevertheless, Canada is still known for providing the U.S. a number of agricultural products, including grains such as wheat, barley, and oats, along with meat products like beef, pork, and poultry.

The U.S. also imports vehicles and auto parts from Canada, including cars, trucks, engines, transmissions, tires, and other components.

Trudeau later mentioned that he still has not spoken with Trump since the tariffs were put into effect.

“Today, the United States launched a trade war against Canada, their closest partner and ally — their closest friend. Canadians are reasonable, but we will not back down from a fight,” he wrote on X.

This comes after Trudeau already announced “retaliatory tariffs” on $30 billion Canadian dollars ($20.7 billion) worth of American goods.

In response, Trump confidently threatened to increase Canada’s tariffs even more on Tuesday.

“Please explain to Governor Trudeau, of Canada, that when he puts a Retaliatory Tariff on the U.S., our Reciprocal Tariff will immediately increase by a like amount!” he wrote on his Truth Social account.

Trudeau has insisted that Canadians don’t “hate” Americans, but he described the tariffs as a response to a “policy decision by the American government designed to go after the Canadian economy.”

“I want to speak first directly to the American people. We don’t want this. We want to work with you as a friend and ally. We don’t want to see you hurt either. But your government has chosen to do this to you. As of this morning, the markets are down and inflation is set to rise dramatically,” Trudeau told reporters.

During his announcement, Trudeau also urged Canadians to use their own country’s products, boycott American products, and stop vacationing in Florida.

Canada’s provincial premiers are expected to give their own addresses regarding the retaliatory tariffs on Tuesday.

In one of the first retaliatory measures announced, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said that his state was officially canceling its contract with Elon Musk-owned Starlink — which helps people in times of disaster when their electricity goes out.

This comes after Trump’s tariffs went into full effect just after midnight on Tuesday, in what the president cited were failures of Mexico, Canada, and China to stop the flow of deadly fentanyl coming into the U.S.

Mexico is expected to respond with retaliatory measures on U.S. goods on Sunday, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced on Tuesday.

“There is no motive or reason, nor justification that supports this decision that will affect our people and our nation,” she said.

Trudeau’s likely successor, Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, similarly announced that Canada will fight this.

“At 12:01 a.m., President Trump stabbed America’s best friend in the back. My message to the president is this — Canada will fight back,” he announced in a statement.

The new tariffs, which went into effect on Tuesday, impose a 25% levy on the U.S.’s North American neighbors and 20% on China.

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Judge Pauses Plan to Put USAID Workers on Leave; Trump Aims to Cut U.S. Trade Deficit With Japan

With just hours to go before thousands of U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) employees were to be placed on administrative leave, a federal judge put the plan on hold. President Donald Trump meets with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the White House. What did the two leaders announce, and what new executive orders did Trump sign Friday? From trade talks to tariffs, we explore the latest developments surrounding the United States, Japan, and China with Dennis Wilder, professor of Asian studies at Georgetown University. A Chinese AI chatbot that shocked Silicon Valley is now making waves on Capitol Hill. What's prompting the serious concerns being raised over data privacy and national security? With lawmakers seeking to ban AI bot DeepSee over its ties to China, a cybersecurity expert joins us to assess. The Israeli prime minister and other world leaders share their thoughts after Trump issues sanctions against the International Criminal Court.

Port Strike Leaves BILLIONS Of Trade In Limbo. How Bad Will This Get?

Port workers along the East Coast have officially gone on strike, and the effects this could bring on you and your grocery store could be detrimental. National Right to Work Committee President Mark Mix joined Blaze News Tonight to lay out why this strike is happening and how you may feel it in your bank account, as if this strike goes long enough, you could see your grocery bill increase even more.

Oct. 7: Hamas ‘cut off organs and took them to Gaza in order to trade with them in future hostage negotiations’

By

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2024/04/oct-7-hamas-cut-off-organs-and-took-them-to-gaza-in-order-to-trade-with-them-in-future-hostage-negotiations; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

These are the people to whom the U.S. and U.K. are pressuring Israel to surrender.

“‘They cut off organs’: Interrogator reveals Hamas terrorists’ Oct. 7 atrocities,” by Shlomi Heller, Jerusalem Post, April 4, 2024:

“We interrogated hate-filled terrorists who were trading body parts of those murdered on October 7. They took a knife and murdered everyone in their wake. "They cut off organs and took them to Gaza in order to trade with them in future hostage negotiations,” said “R,” a company commander in the Lahav 433 Unit and Superintendent Yaron Binyamin, in a conversation with Israeli Police spokesperson, Commander Eli Levy.

In a special interview for the “Police News” program, Superintendent Binyamin spoke about the investigations of Nukhba terrorists who committed brutal crimes on October 7, which included murder, massacre, rape, abuse of corpses, and the kidnapping of soldiers and civilians while setting fire to occupants’ houses.

“I say to those who deny the crimes committed by Nukhba terrorists that at the end of six months of investigation, there is no doubt at all about the number of horrible crimes they committed on October 7. Today, we understand this through the testimony of the terrorists who themselves carried out the terrible massacre,” said Binyamin….

Turkey: 1,000 boats filled with Leftists head to Gaza to try to disrupt maritime trade coming into Israel

  BY 

SEE: https://www.jihadwatch.org/2023/11/turkey-1000-boats-filled-with-leftists-head-to-gaza-to-try-to-disrupt-maritime-trade-coming-into-israel;

Republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, & research purposes.

“Among the 1,000 vessels would be 313 boats filled with Russian activists, and 104 filled with Spanish activists…”

Once again, these self-righteous useful idiots have no idea what they’re enabling. Or if they do, it would be even worse.

“1,000 boats said set to leave Turkey for Gaza waters in new ‘Freedom Flotilla,’” by Gianluca Pacchiani, Times of Israel, November 21, 2023:

Approximately 1,000 boats will gather in Turkey on Wednesday before heading toward Gaza in an attempt to break the Israeli blockade and disrupt maritime trade coming into Israel during the war with Hamas, in an apparent repeat of similar attempts from over a decade ago.

In an interview with Turkish news website Haber7, Volkan Okçu, one of the organizers of the protest, indicated the boats will carry 4,500 people from 40 countries, “including anti-Zionist Jews.”

Among the 1,000 vessels would be 313 boats filled with Russian activists, and 104 filled with Spanish activists, he said. Only 12 Turkish vessels will join the flotilla, he told Haber7.

However, Okçu said in a later tweet that he expected the number of Turkish vessels to be much higher, at least 1,000, and insisted that the initiative is not associated with the Turkish government. He did not explain the discrepancy in numbers.

The activist indicated to Haber7 that the flotilla is scheduled to leave Turkish coasts on Thursday. The maritime convoy is set to make a first stop in Cyprus before continuing toward the Israeli port of Ashdod. Some participants in the flotilla will also reportedly take their spouses and children on board.

Okçu said that the main objective of the operation would be to cause disruption in international waters off the Israeli coast to the maritime trade heading for the port of Ashdod, in order to interrupt the supply of goods to Israel for a week or even up to 10 days….