Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge and Brantford most vulnerable to tariffs

[Momo26]

https://www.ctvnews.ca/kitchener/article...s-tariffs/

Damn...

Let's discuss...

[bravado]

It's really difficult to express how large and embedded manufacturing and just all sorts of shipping is done here in Ontario. People think of manufacturing as a dying thing, but it's absolutely massive and the stretch of the 401 from London to Toronto is extremely industrialized and huge chunks of it is for export to the US. For every large car plant at the edge of town in an industrial park, there are hundreds of suppliers dotted around the province. This also works in reverse in the US. I distinctly remember in a past life, we bought little springs to go in your seatbelt harness that came from the weirdest factory in rural illinois and went into a Corolla in Cambridge.

This is an absurd move from Trump and I personally hope he chokes on his big mac as soon as possible.

[tomh009]

For sure there would be a big impact if/when Trump slams us with tariffs.

How big, I'm not sure. I did a bunch of digging on the Chamber web site but could not figure what data they are using for their calculations. It's not as if businesses report their sales by country to statscan (or the Chamber).

[Momo26]

Maybe it's anecdotal.

But overall it shows that we need to hasten the reduction in replying on exports to the US. We need to diversify.

[tomh009]

Maybe it's anecdotal.

But overall it shows that we need to hasten the reduction in replying on exports to the US. We need to diversify.

Absolutely agreed. There are many countries who actually WANT to trade with Canada. Unfortunately none of them are immediately to the south of us.

[danbrotherston]

Maybe it's anecdotal.

But overall it shows that we need to hasten the reduction in replying on exports to the US. We need to diversify.

Absolutely agreed. There are many countries who actually WANT to trade with Canada. Unfortunately none of them are immediately to the south of us.

Yes. It's almost impossible to overcome the geographic advantage the US has. But we've got to try. Because the current situation is dangerous. Our sovereignty, even our own identity is being threatened in a way that hasn't happened for over 200 years.

On the plus side...this is (mostly) bringing Canadians together.

[Kodra24]

Maybe it's anecdotal.

But overall it shows that we need to hasten the reduction in replying on exports to the US. We need to diversify.

Too bad all those pipelines were cancelled in 2016 and 2017 by the current Liberal government, too bad Japan just announced a $1T deal with the US (instead of us) for energy exports, there are many more "too bad" scenarios I can list

There is no trade war that we can win with the US - if they wanted to, and it looks like Trump wants to, they can plunge our country in a depression (forget recession) so deep that Argentina (prior to Milei saving them) would look like a powerhouse compared to us

I don't think people realize our dependence on the US, sure they depend on us as well but at a MUCH MUCH lower level

[plam]

Maybe it's anecdotal.

But overall it shows that we need to hasten the reduction in replying on exports to the US. We need to diversify.

Too bad all those pipelines were cancelled in 2016 and 2017 by the current Liberal government, too bad Japan just announced a $1T deal with the US (instead of us) for energy exports, there are many more "too bad" scenarios I can list

There is no trade war that we can win with the US - if they wanted to, and it looks like Trump wants to, they can plunge our country in a depression (forget recession) so deep that Argentina (prior to Milei saving them) would look like a powerhouse compared to us

I don't think people realize our dependence on the US, sure they depend on us as well but at a MUCH MUCH lower level

You build pipelines and you continue to heat up the planet so that it becomes uninhabitable. No thank you.

[bravado]

Nobody else in the west has the same problem we do: insane physical proximity to the biggest pile of money on earth.

I think we should 100% try and make new friends, but the US is an unavoidable economic juggernaut. It’s so beyond massive that I don’t know what word to use.

And people ultimately act with their wallets, because they like to be fed, and it’s genuinely impossible to completely avoid American money when you’re right next to them.

[tomh009]

I don't think people realize our dependence on the US, sure they depend on us as well but at a MUCH MUCH lower level

If we stop shipping oil to them, where will the US Midwest refineries get their oil?
If we stop shipping aluminium to them, where will they get bauxite or be able to smelt it?
If we stop shipping steel and nickel to them, how will they make stainless steel? From China?
If we stop shipping uranium to them, how will they run their nuclear reactors?
If we stop shipping potash to them, how will their farmers fertilize their fields?
If we stop shipping germanium to them, how will they make solar cells for their satellites?
If we stop shipping softwood lumber to them, what will they use to build houses?
if we stop shipping toilet paper to them, what will they use in the bathroom?

They are indeed dependent on Canada for many things.

[tomh009]

And people ultimately act with their wallets, because they like to be fed, and it’s genuinely impossible to completely avoid American money when you’re right next to them.

It does look like many people are now actively avoiding US-made products, and travel to the US seems to be down as well. From small acorns mighty oaks grow ...

[Rainrider22]

Maybe it's anecdotal.

But overall it shows that we need to hasten the reduction in replying on exports to the US. We need to diversify.

Too bad all those pipelines were cancelled in 2016 and 2017 by the current Liberal government, too bad Japan just announced a $1T deal with the US (instead of us) for energy exports, there are many more "too bad" scenarios I can list

There is no trade war that we can win with the US - if they wanted to, and it looks like Trump wants to, they can plunge our country in a depression (forget recession) so deep that Argentina (prior to Milei saving them) would look like a powerhouse compared to us

I don't think people realize our dependence on the US, sure they depend on us as well but at a MUCH MUCH lower level

You are spot on.  Canada could be so wealthy is we tapped into our natural resources and further processed them for the value added.

[Rainrider22]

Too bad all those pipelines were cancelled in 2016 and 2017 by the current Liberal government, too bad Japan just announced a $1T deal with the US (instead of us) for energy exports, there are many more "too bad" scenarios I can list

There is no trade war that we can win with the US - if they wanted to, and it looks like Trump wants to, they can plunge our country in a depression (forget recession) so deep that Argentina (prior to Milei saving them) would look like a powerhouse compared to us

I don't think people realize our dependence on the US, sure they depend on us as well but at a MUCH MUCH lower level

You build pipelines and you continue to heat up the planet so that it becomes uninhabitable. No thank you.

That's an interesting attitude for someone who lives in a country that needs to heat our homes...

[plam]

You build pipelines and you continue to heat up the planet so that it becomes uninhabitable. No thank you.

That's an interesting attitude for someone who lives in a country that needs to heat our homes...

Climate change is no joke. Ice storms, fires, droughts. All bad. We need to stop using fossil fuels yesterday and replace it with the things we already have like solar, wind, and even nuclear. Then we can heat our houses with heat pumps.

[Rainrider22]

Um, with no fossil fuels, how do you suggest we make all the day to day products we utilize that are made from oil product derivatives, Like plastic. Here is the other thing, for every kilowatt of electricity you generate from renewable sources, (solar, wind) you need to build instant on power generating for redundancy. Most instant on is natural gas production. Now, just say we can generate enough electricity to power all your EV's, heavy machinery (which wont work) home heating and cooling etc... How do you plan to distribute it ? Do you have any idea of the infrastructure required to create a network of distribution? Every single neighborhood would have to have all distribution replaced with bigger transformers and heavier conductors... We are so far away from getting away from fossil fuels.... And no one said climate change is a joke. Many experts say we are still exiting the ice age. The climate has been changing forever and will continue to.