Month: March 2025

Trump’s Canada Bashing and Lies to Justify Tariffs

by Dave

Wow! In Trump’s first term, Trump would miss no opportunity to brag about the USMCA (US, Mexico and Canada) that is a trade agreement he negotiated to replace NAFTA. He campaigned relentlessly on the idea that both Mexico and Canada were taking advantage of NAFTA, and he was able to negotiate a lot better agreement.

As usual, in his first term, Trump said: I’m going to renegotiate NAFTA, one of the worst trade deals ever signed in the history of our country.

This could be because it was signed by a Democrat, Bill Clinton. Trade agreements are very long documents covering many issues. From Wikipedia:

During his 2016 election campaign and presidency, Trump was highly critical of NAFTA (often times describing it as “perhaps the worst trade deal ever made”) while extolling USMCA as “a terrific deal for all of us”. The USMCA is very similar to NAFTA, carrying over many of the same provisions and making only modest, mostly cosmetic changes, and is expected to have only a minor economic effect. Former U.S. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor, who oversaw the signing of NAFTA during the Bill Clinton administration, said, “It’s the original NAFTA.”

The last comment by Mickey Kantor is likely a bit exaggerated, as there were significant changes in the USMCA agreement as discussed in the Wikipedia post.

Trump’s Lies

So far I count 12 lies. More are probably coming. Historically, the US and Canada have been very good partners, working out our differences without a lot of political rhetoric and lies. All these lies were told by Trump since January 2025. Some lies are directed at President Biden as usual (lie # 4 and 12). Remember they are lies.

1 FALSE: Canadian public likes the idea of becoming the 51st state. Truth is the Canadian public overwhelmingly opposes.

2 FALSE: US trade deficit with Canada is $200 billion. Trump has also stated the deficit is around $250 billion (from Barron’s). Barron’s cites our deficit with Canada is $64 billion. CNN cites two deficit values, 36 billion and 71 billion, the lower figure is for goods and services, and the higher value is for goods alone. All these values are nowhere close to the values cited by Trump.

3 FALSE: Canada is one of the world’s highest-tariff countries. It is actually low in global rankings.

4 FALSE: Canada hiked its dairy tariffs during the Biden administration. Tariffs haven’t changed since Trump’s first presidency.

5 FALSE: President Donald Trump claims that Canada has been “ripping us off for years” with a 250% tariff on U.S. dairy products. (Yahoo Finance) . “It is accurate that Canada imposes a tariff of approximately 250% on U.S. exports of certain dairy products into Canada. However, that tariff would only apply if we were able to reach and exceed the quota on U.S. dairy exports agreed to under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.” (Yahoo Finance- Link provided below). This is the trade agreement that Trump boasted as a “terrific deal for all of us.”

6 FALSE: Canada generally doesn’t “take” US agricultural exports. Canada is the world’s second-biggest buyer of those exports.

7 FALSE: Canada prohibits US banks. Truth is that more than a dozen US banks are operating in Canada today. Barrons and CNN consider this is a lie. “American banks are not allowed to do business in Canada,” Trump said in a social media post last month.

8 FALSE: Canada is “constantly surrounded” by Chinese and Russian ships. In fact, a smattering of Russian and Chinese military ships and jets, as well as Chinese research vessels viewed with suspicion by Canada and the US, have been occasionally spotted in recent years in the vicinity of the US state of Alaska – and have been monitored or intercepted by the Canadian and US militaries.

9 FALSE: Outgoing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was using the ongoing tariff battle to run again for prime minister. The truth is Trudeau clearly wasn’t running.

10 FALSE: Canada spends less than 1% of gross domestic product on defense. Truth is NATO figures showed it was an estimated 1.37% last year.

11 FALSE: Trump has claimed that Canada gets 95 percent of its “product” from the United States. Trump is talking about foreign imports. US accounts for 62%. About 76% of goods exported from Canada go to the US.

12 FALSE: Trump claims massive entry of illegal immigrants and vast quantities of fentanyl from Canada. He does this by lumping Mexico and Canada together as if together, they are causing unemployment, crime and drug addiction. So, while this has nothing directly tied to tariffs, I guess the point Trump is making is that we have to start hating Canada and problems they caused, to justify the tariffs.

But consider the absurdity of it all, when we levy tariffs against a country, which has very little to do with our fentanyl epidemic or illegal immigration. Exactly, how do Canadian leaders roll back tariffs?

I guess for those who hate foreigners and blame all problems on them, this lie works. As researched by Factcheck.org, the two countries are very different. For example, in December 2024, apprehensions from Canada was 510 illegals, as compared to with 47,326 illegals from Mexico. So the split between the two countries is 99:1.

This lie about Canadians bringing in vast quantities of fentanyl is closely tied to another lie from Trump, that the fentanyl addictions accounted for 300,000 deaths in the US in 2024. Usually, this lie is tied to a political statement that Biden and the liberals did nothing about the illegal drug trafficking.

So, there is a long series of lies to correct. And I have to back up a bit. First, fentanyl is the narcotic of choice for drug smugglers because it is so concentrated, that a very small amount can cause an overdone. It is well documented that fentanyl is not carried over our border with Mexico by illegal immigrants. It is brought into the US by legal US citizens who hide the drug in their cars or trucks. It can come in by boats and planes. Sometimes, the express mail services are used to send fentanyl or pre-cursors.

Second, there were 74,000 deaths attributed to synthetic opioids (generally fentanyl) in 2024. The good news that during the Biden administration, fentanyl deaths were on the decline. Yet, it had nothing to do with Democrats or Biden administration, but with the discovery of the antagonist drug, naxolene, which helps saves addicts when they overdose.

This obviously is way off the topic of Canadian tariffs, but it is standard for Trump to jump from one lie to another, in connecting the dots that don’t exist. I can usually spot a couple lies as soon as he starts his rants. With this list of 12 lies, you can watch Trump talk and catch his favorite lies.

Trump is weakening our country and our economy, by playing to radical isolationist sentiment rather than building on good working relations with our neighbors. The region including Canada, Mexico, and the United States is one of the world’s largest free trade zones,with a population of more than 510 million people and an economy of $30.997 trillion in nominal GDP — nearly 30 percent of the global economy, and the largest of any trade bloc in the world. (Wikipedia- see first link) At the same time, he is violating the USMCA agreement, that his administration negotiated in this first term as president.

Stay tuned,

Dave

Links:

Wikipedia, US-Mexico-Canada-Agreement (USMCA)

Factcheck.org: Illegal Immigration and Fentanyl at the U.S. Northern and Southwest Borders
By D’Angelo Gore

Yahoo Finance: Does Canada Really Have A 250% Tariff In Place On US Dairy Products Imported Into Canada? Here Are The Facts

CNN: Fact check: Nine Trump false claims about Canada

Barrons: Fact-check: Trump’s Claims About Canada

RFK, Jr. promotes quack medical remedies

by Dave

It sad, unfortunate and unnecessary. The measles epidemic in Texas is deadly serious. Robert Kennedy, Jr. was the chairman of the Children’s Health Defense from 2015 to 2022. It is a radical fringe organization against approval of many vaccines, including the Covid-19 vaccines. They have filed many lawsuits against mandatory vaccines for children.

The outbreak of measles occur in communities near Lubbock, Texas where the percentage of unvaccinated residents is high. The Mennonite population is reluctant to be vaccinated. This seems to be the principal reason for the outbreak. Measles can be severe if the individual is malnourished. The Mennonites generally do not eat processed food, hence their diet is notably very healthy.

We have proven vaccinations against measles. “I’m very concerned about the messaging that’s coming out,” said Dr. Jeffrey Kahn, chief of infectious diseases at Children’s Health in Dallas. “It’s somewhat baffling to me that we’re relitigating the effectiveness of vaccines and alternative therapies. We know how to handle measles. We’ve had six decades of experience.”

So, Robert Kennedy, Jr. is the last person that should head the Health and Human Services in the US government. It is true that measles is rarely fatal and the fatality rate is one to three for every 1,000 people infected. Of the approximately 300 people infected in Texas, one unvaccinated child has died. I think that’s one too many.

In the past, Robert Kennedy has promoted false information that vaccines are dangerous and can cause autism and that unconventional remedies such as cod liver oil and Vitamin A are effective.

Robert Kennedy, Jr. stated:

“While there is no approved antiviral for those who may be infected, CDC has recently updated their recommendation supporting administration of vitamin A under the supervision of a physician for those with mild, moderate, and severe infection. Studies have found that vitamin A can dramatically reduce measles mortality.”

There is nothing more powerful to persuade vaccine hesitant people to refuse to be vaccinate, than to suggest they can simply take an ordinary over-the-counter supplement. It is especially bad when they also refuse to vaccinate their children.

Vitamin A does not prevent measles and can be harmful to children in large or prolonged doses, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. It has been shown to decrease the severity of measles infections in developing countries among patients who are malnourished and vitamin A deficient, a rare occurrence in the United States.

The community health experts are doing an excellent job of correcting misinformation and giving parents good reasons to vaccinate their children as the first line of defense against a disease that can result in death. Unfortunately, they must contend with a steady stream of misinformation coming from fringe groups, and supported by the Secretary of Health and Human Services Department, that vitamin supplements are effective remedies and there is nothing unusual about a measle outbreak in their community.

Stay tuned,

Dave

Links:

Daily Beast RFK, Jr. asks quack cure activist for help with deadly measles outbreak

New York Times: Kennedy Links Measles Outbreak to Poor Diet and Health, Citing Fringe Theories

AP, West Texans, Mennonites at center of measles outbreak choose medical freedom over vaccine mandates

Wikipedia, Children’s Health Defense

Reuters, Doctors push back as parents embrace Kennedy and vitamin A in Texas measles outbreak

Retaliatory Tariffs in Trade Wars

by Dave

I call it the return shot. The US declares tariffs against Canada, Mexico and China exports. They all react with tariffs against US exports. That’s retaliation. It is so predictable. Now, Trump sees this, and declares that there will be added US retaliation tariffs. So, just guess what happens next. A second full round of pain for all.

“Tariffs are actually, we’ve had a lot of experience with them. They’re an act of war, to some degree,” Buffett said in an interview with CBS News that aired on Sunday.

Warren Buffet is 94 years old, and an incredibly successful investor, with a net worth of 160 billion dollars. Most economists are with Buffet. Countries react as if they are attacked. Not much is accomplished.

And as I wrote in my last posting, Trump’s whole basis for tariffs is a lie, that we are making our trading partners pay for their unfair trading practices. The tariffs are past to consumers. So, it is inflationary to us and our trading partners.

When asked about tariffs’ impact on inflation, the 94-year-old Berkshire Hathaway chairman was blunt: “Over time, they are a tax on goods. I mean, the Tooth Fairy doesn’t pay ’em!” He added economists should always ask, “And then what?”

The “… then what?” is more of the same, more pain and unfortunately, from Donald Trump, a whole series of lies.

Stay tuned,

Dave