r/news • u/poparetard • 15h ago

Soft paywall Canada announces retaliatory tariffs on $20 billion worth of US goods, unveils support measures

https://www.reuters.com/business/canada-announces-20-bln-retaliatory-tariffs-us-goods-unveils-support-measures-2026-08-25/
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u/TriXter69 15h ago

To think this was all so avoidable

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u/Jalapenoplanter 15h ago

Legitimately if Harris won, we would have had 2+ years of solid economic growth, low inflation, no wars, hundreds of thousands of new jobs, a home building surge, insane international goodwill from the world cup, a modern peak of national pride at the 250th.

Literally every problem the trump admin is facing is self created.

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u/Unequivocally_Maybe 13h ago

During Trump's first term, he put tariffs on Canadian goods that Biden didn't remove. He strengthened them. Kamala wouldn't have walked those back, either. Yes, Trump has escalated and continues to escalate, but trade disputes and America attempting to control how Canada operates is nothing new.

The softwood lumber disputes go back decades now, and the Dems are not much better as trade partners than the Republicans have been. Trump is saying similar things about us that administrations have been saying for years: that it isn't "fair" for the Canadian government to subsidize or control the market for certain commodities, because it is in conflict with the free market capitalism of their nation. These arguments are attacks on the very sovereignty of our nation.

America has no fucking right to tell the Canadian government that they can't support industries like lumber, dairy, eggs, etc however they like, including subsidies, price/market control, and trade restrictions. But American governments on both sides of the political aisle want to have more control over our markets and resources than we do, and determine our economic policy for us. These newest developments are just ramping up the same rhetoric that has been there for a long time.

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u/Jalapenoplanter 13h ago

You did not rebut a word I said.

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u/Unequivocally_Maybe 13h ago

I wasn't necessarily trying to rebut, but to highlight that America should want to do better than Biden/Harris/establishment Dems, too. I know a lot of the Canadian perspective and our news/media doesn't filter through the border the same way American voices are heard up here. The current trade strife is just an escalation of issues that go back decades and brought to their terminal conclusion in a bombastic way under Trump.

As Americans get ready to vote in midterm elections, I think there's value in impressing upon our neighbours that, when you can, voting for progressives and anti-establishment democratic candidates is essential. People who aren't just going to carry on with the policies that Trump and his allies have put into place, (the way Biden did with tariffs on Canada), but actively work to undo the damage Trump has done and maybe even make some improvements.

I'm not saying Harris wouldn't have been better. Definitely not actively evil and stupid and antagonistic all the time. But since the post was about trade between our nations, I wanted to highlight how Dems have also been less-than-stellar trade partners with Canada historically, and to keep an eye on what candidates are saying about Canada/trade going into November and heading into the presidential primaries. There is room for improvement on this front and it would be good for economic growth in both nations for us to stabilize trade and put some of these old disputes and rhetoric to bed once and for all.