Jedidajah Otte Wed 5 Mar 2025 10.10 EST
"Since Donald Trump began his tariff threats against Canada and his ‘jokes’ about making Canada the 51st US state, I have not bought a single product originating in the US,” said Lynne Allardice, 78, a retired business owner from New Brunswick, Canada.
“Not a single lettuce leaf or piece of fruit. I have become an avid reader of labels and have adopted an ‘anywhere but the US’ policy when shopping. I will not visit the States while Trump remains in office, and most of the people I know have adopted the same policy.”"
As an American I fully support this. Our government is supposed to work as a bit of a push-n-pull, not a winner rape all, which is how Trump and the RepubliKKKans run things. I am anxious to see them and their policies fail asap, so please do as much damage as possible. I wish that I could renounce my citizenship and become a Canadian. I identify so much more with your country and values. Unfortunately I looked into immigrating about 15 yrs ago and I’m too old, lacking a tech degree, and not rich enough for Canada’s point system of immigration. (You get points based on age, skill sets, and the wealth you bring into the country and have to meet a minimum score.)
That’s exactly what the current administration is trying to fix. We have been getting the short end of the stick for years, and now that we actually have an administration in sync and getting things done… the world shudders. How dare we stand up for ourselves. Heaven forbid we try to balance our trade deficits, or try to negotiate an end to a war nobody wants, or try to secure our borders against cartels and drugs our “allies” let slip into our country.
Don’t get me wrong, the administration isn’t perfect. But it’s getting things done, and fast. A little short-term pain for long-term gain is worth exploring in my opinion. We have 4 years to find out.
This is a joke right? Those things you listed, the current administration has done exactly nothing productive in those areas.
Balance trade deficits by ensuring nobody will ever want to export to the US? Check
End a war nobody wants by threatening the defending side and supporting the dictator aggressor side? Check
Defending US borders against drugs from canada by doing absolutely nothing while Canada has been working on the problem for a long time which is already showing results? Check
And not to forget that its already pretty much completed a fascist takeover of the government, but thats what 50% of the country voted for so you could call it the will of the people?
Also what the fuck is short end of the stick supposed to mean? The US is by far the wealthiest country in the world and raking up wealth at the fastest rate by exploiting developing countries and their own population. Noone is getting the longer end of the stick than the US. That wealth is stuck at the top 0.1% so of course the average American doesnt feel it, but that wont change with tarriffs and oil deals. The rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer, just like the current administration is planning. By the time the working class finally unites because they are starving in the worlds richest country it will be too late, no chance to revolt against a class holding a million times their power.
No offense but you should really get in touch with reality…
Yeah I don’t understand those people’s perspectives. For the last 80 years, the US has built a world that revolves around its currency, its military, its culture, benefiting from it all.
Then you have brainwashed conservatives not realizing this fact, and somehow coming to the conclusion the US is this underdog, this taken advantage of nation. Who exactly is ripping the US off and how??
Lol to all the people downvoting me in rage.
Okay, let’s break it down by each point I listed and see.
In terms of balance, the U.S. just in 2024 had the following trade deficits with “allies”:
And those deficits are 17% higher than the previous year. The balancing is two-fold: tariffs to, yes, discourage trade outside the U.S. so that businesses come back home, increasing our own economy and job market instead of sending it overseas and across borders. That will involve some short-term pain for long-term gain.
Regarding the war, the U.S. provided 43% of global military aid to Ukraine, while no other country exceeded 6%. It would have been over in weeks if not days had the U.S. not supported Ukraine. With asking nothing in return, I might add. Until now. We’re not a cash and weaponry cow they can keep milking indefinitely. If they want continued assistance, they have to work with our president. Otherwise, good luck EU. We’ll be getting nice and friendly with Russia in the meantime.
Regarding our borders, we’ve achieved very little specifically because of the open border policies and resistance from the left. Now that our government is in sync for the first time since the 1950s, border security and many other sweeping changes will be swift and thorough.
Also, I find it amusing when people say the U.S. is the richest country in the world. In reality, we hold the highest national debt with $36 trillion as of last month, which is more than twice the amount compared to every other country in the world. It’s not sustainable for our future.
So, all this to reiterate: it is you and everyone else that needs to get in touch with reality. The reality that America is returning to its roots as land of the free. Free from being a dumping ground for your drugs, your criminals and illegal aliens, your trade imbalances, your warmongering leaders (unless they want to FAFO).
America will be thriving again once this administration is through, just like we were during Trump’s first term, and I’m so sorry if that bothers you. If you want to be part of our great nation and future, seek legal citizenship. Maybe buy a gold card. Take care!
I was busy but I would still like to answer this because there is so much wrong with this comment. You seem to have no basic understanding of macro-economics so I will have to put it simply: trade deficits are NOT the same as a net negative spending balance. Just like national debt is NOT the same as a negative account balance. And most importantly both give no indication of how wealthy a country really is. It is much more complicated than that on national levels. The US is benefitting greatly from its trade deficits through the resulting capital account surplus, but you can read up on that if you actually care. Tarriffs wont “fix” a problem that doesnt exist. All they do is make stuff more expensive which is basically a tax raise. Regarding debt, its statistically more like the opposite. The countries with the most debt are almost exclusively among the wealthiest. Still, no real indication and the US is not exceptionally indebted (ranked 42 by debt-per-GDP).
Regarding the war, the US has contributed 0.5% of its GDP, thats rank 17 on a list of 41 countries. The US is a huge country, you cant just compare absolute numbers. None of them asked anything in return either. Oh wait, either is wrong. The US and UK are the only countries that DID ask of Ukraine to sign the Budapest Memorandum in exchange for military support. Trump is literally violating it with his “peace suggestions”. How should any country respect the US after this if they wont keep their word in diplomatic agreements?
I am very sorry for the terrible decisions your current government is making and it makes me really sad how people like you are being misled. You cant believe everything your news echochamber tells you just because it seems to make sense that negative numbers are bad.
I wouldnt really care all that much if the US would simply self-destruct because of all their bullshit, but the peoblem is as soon as it will get really bad they will start waging wars all around the world to make up for it by trading resources for “peace”, because thats the only thing theyre actually good at. The whole world will suffer because of a huge baby with an even huger inferiority complex.
I never said they were, genius. The point of highlighting the deficit is twofold: first, to expose how lopsided our trade agreements are, with our so-called “allies” benefiting far more than we do; and second, to showcase how badly domestic production is failing to meet demand. The best way to correct that? Tariffs. They reduce the imbalance and incentivise bringing production back home. But sure, keep pretending it’s not an issue while we hemorrhage jobs and industry to foreign nations.
Have you actually read the Memorandum? No, you haven’t. And it shows. It also included Russia, and it never guaranteed military support - it guaranteed that Ukraine’s borders and sovereignty would be respected and that we wouldn’t infringe upon them, except in self-defense. And funnily enough, that’s exactly what Russia did in 2014 after Ukraine spent years antagonising them with NATO ambitions (e.g. the 2008 Bucharest Summit) despite NATO giving assurances it wouldn’t expand eastward past Germany during its reunification talks. But go off with your revisionist history.
Likewise, kiddo. Maybe try doing some real research before regurgitating whatever narrative makes you feel smart. It takes actual knowledge to understand why these policies exist, and right now, you’re just embarrassing yourself by parroting surface-level takes with zero depth.
Where did you get the idea that they benefit more from trade than the US does? Thats complete bullshit propaganda. Why would that be the case? Name a single economic indication please, and stop with the “its a deficit, thats a negative word, so its bad for us” logic, read up on the words youre using before spouting nonsense. The US has been running trade deficits for decades, thats your business model! Its like if Amazon started saying “oh damn our warehouse inventory is getting smaller, lets fix it by selling less stuff!”
Ive read the memorandum. It ays what you wrote and I didnt pretend otherwise. The US is currently not respecting Ukraines borders by offering part of the country to Russia. I dont see how thats so difficult to understand.
My god you’re dense. I’ve already explained everything clearly and twice so far. I’ll put it in very simple to understand words for you:
Trade Deficit = Deindustrialisation and Job Loss
Trade Surplus = Industrialisation and Job Growth
For someone who claims to have an understanding of macroeconomics, you clearly very much don’t. 🤦🏼
And I’ll reiterate: the Memorandum did not guarantee military support, and yet, we’ve been providing it for the last three years for free despite them breaking their own agreement and infringing on Russia’s border security. They poked the bear, FAFO’d. The only way Ukraine keeps their sovereignty is through diplomacy and, most likely, complete detachment from NATO.
Yes those are negative side effects of a trade deficit, just like it has positive effects, which the US has benefitted from for decades. Why is the USD currently so strong? Mainly because of your trade deficit. Dont try to frame it like there are only downsides.
Sure, a transition to trade surplus is a valid possibility, but tarriffs wont accomplish that. They will create a few jobs, sure, but they definitely wont increase exports.
I didnt say the Memorandum guaranteed military support. I said Trump suggesting that Ukraine give up the occupied territories is violating the sovereignity and borders part. Russia violated the agreement long before by attacking Ukraine, which would obviously draw sympathy to Ukraine as the attacked. I also didnt deny the US providing support. They provided about as much as the average country supporting Ukraine, which they are very thankful for, but its not that special. Ill dismiss the propaganda part, I think you know very well that its bullshit.
Wow, the amount of delusion and misinformation is so high it baffles me. I will take my time answering tomorrow but it makes me really sad that the fascists have such an easy time brainwashing their own people.
You are an absolute clown and it seems like there aren’t balloon animals in the world for you to see that
🤡