Canada has no intent of pursuing free trade deal with China, says PM after Trump threat

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/carney-canada-trump-tariff-threat-china-trade-9.7060150

'We won't put all our eggs in one basket,' foreign affairs minister says

61 points · 24 comments · view on lemmy.world

24 Comments

skozzii@lemmy.ca · 37 pts · 224d (3 replies)

I don't think a free trade agreement was ever on the table. This is just a off ramp for Trump to TACO again.

ValueSubtracted@startrek.website · 18 pts · 224d (1 reply)

Yeah, I don't get where the "appeasement" narrative is coming from.

FaceDeer@fedia.io · 8 pts · 224d

Ragebait. People love being angry.

caseyweederman@lemmy.ca · 1 pts · 224d

To Armor Class 0

panda_abyss@lemmy.ca · 24 pts · 224d (2 replies)

Trump does not have legal authority for that tariff, and fixing issues doesn’t mean we’re going all in on China.

tleb@lemmy.ca · 19 pts · 224d

He also doesn't have legal authority for the current tariffs but it doesn't make a difference

phoenixz@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 223d

legal authority

Oh yeah, because we all know how much trump cares about that!

Lemmyoutofhere@lemmy.ca · 15 pts · 224d (3 replies)

We do not have to explain anything we do to the orange turd.

FaceDeer@fedia.io · 10 pts · 224d (2 replies)

It's worth explaining to Canadians, though. Explaining to Trump is somewhat of a Socratic method for announcing simple concepts to the world.

fourish@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 223d

If you explain it so trump can understand then maybe candian cons will too.

III@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 223d

An explanation Trump can understand would be laden with compliments, lies, omissions, bribes and referenced examples of sexy children all fed to him by someone with Mar-a-lago face. Not the kind of thing the average person would really learn from.

avidamoeba@lemmy.ca · 10 pts · 224d (4 replies)

We don't need or want free trade with China (or arguably free trade with anyone). It's time for economic managers to get their shit together and start managing instead of outsourcing to the invisible hand that always ends up picking Canadian workers' pockets.

Scotty@scribe.disroot.org · -2 pts · 223d (3 replies)

... outsourcing to the invisible hand [what?] ... ends up picking Canadian workers' pockets ...

These is a meaningless comment.

And Canada should aim to free trade agreements - with democratically governed countries in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and others.

avidamoeba@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 223d (2 replies)

We've experienced first hand the deindustrialization created by free trade. We've lost plenty and there's more to lose. Most people I know in real life do not like or want free trade.

You may be surprised but a lot of people today, normal real life people, do not believe that the completely free market is the best economic model for their wellbeing. Our prime minister himself expressed this opinion in his book Values and during his election campaign. You might think this is meaningless. Many of us don't and we're in a good intellectual company.

Also, I see you've switched the sockpuppet:

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Scotty@scribe.disroot.org · -1 pts · 223d (1 reply)

we're in a good intellectual company.

Good. Is there also any literature or something you can recommend?

[In his book, Carney calls for upholding Canada's core democratic (!) values to maintain sovereignty and economic independence. He advocates for less reliance from other economies to uphold values, but he is not 'against free trade.' This is a misinterpretation.]

[Edit for clarity.]

avidamoeba@lemmy.ca · 1 pts · 223d

Given what you said, I don't think you understand what free trade means.

Quilotoa@lemmy.ca · 7 pts · 224d (2 replies)

Appeasement doesn't work.

FaceDeer@fedia.io · 11 pts · 224d (1 reply)

This isn't appeasement. It's right there in the quoted text, for crying out loud.

We have adults running Canada's foreign affairs. That means we won't be seeing idiotic Trump-style knee-jerk reactions like abruptly trying to go all-in with free trade agreements to other countries without any concern for nuance. Especially not countries like China, which want to be hegemons just as much as America does and would love to get its hooks into Canada this way.

But the moment any nuance gets introduced into Canada's reaction, the moment there's a speech that uses careful diplomatic language instead of gung-ho blithering about how bad we think Americans are, it gets this "Carney's caving! Appeasement!" Reaction. It's wearying.

Quilotoa@lemmy.ca · 5 pts · 224d

I didn't say it was appeasement. I was simply saying that appeasement doesn't work, implying that we shouldn't let the threats affect policy. Should have added more detail.

Lushed_Lungfish@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 224d

An expanded trade deal though...

ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca · 1 pts · 223d

While I’d prefer it over a free trade agreement with the US, this trade deal was pretty underwhelming and I’m wondering when we’ll get one with security guarantees.

T00l_shed@lemmy.world · -3 pts · 224d (2 replies)

Fuck it. At this point what is there to lose?

delial@lemmy.sdf.org · 15 pts · 224d (1 reply)

Canadians should not want free trade with China. It's reasonable to protect domestic industries. China has massively invested in their productive capacity; free trade would destroy any domestic Canadian businesses that compete with their Chinese counterparts. Canada should be purchasing cheap factory equipment from China and reshoring lost industries via heavy investment or creating state-owned businesses. But, Canada should also stop cutting funding for its public health system, enact laws to prevent capital flight, and tax big businesses and the ultra-wealthy heavily, and we know that a fucking banker would never do that.

avidamoeba@lemmy.ca · 11 pts · 224d

Canada should be purchasing cheap factory equipment from China and reshoring lost industries via heavy investment or creating state-owned businesses.

Someone gets it.

I mean the whole comment is completely on point. The only thing I'd add is that weakening Canada's economy isn't in China's interest. If we go down the toilet, the US takes us over (in abstract terms) and cuts off China from Canada. To keep Canada trading with China, they need us stronger than today relative to the US so we can stay independent. With that said, China probably would rely on us to enact the required trade controls to preserve and develop what we need. They'd just comply with those controls instead of fighting them.