Art Of The Deal

Shiny Pony Trump 133 Comments

New NAFTA: “When the Washington Post calls something a ‘big win’ for Trump, you know it’s a big win for Trump.”

Agreement at Politico;

The new pact, which is being called the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, is a major step toward completing one of Trump’s signature campaign promises and gives the president a concrete policy win to tout on the campaign trail this fall. It also sets the stage for what is sure to be a high-stakes fight to get the agreement passed by Congress before it can become law. […]
 

People briefed on the outlines of a revamped deal described changes in language governing dairy imports, dispute resolution between countries, limits on online shopping that can be done tax free, and limits on the U.S. threat of auto tariffs.

I’m in Michigan and about to hit the road again — share your links and reaction in the comments.

Updates via Ezra Levant:

133 Replies to “Art Of The Deal”

  1. What turdo la doo and CBC will hail as “the” great victory:

    Article 23.9 Sex-Based Discrimination in the Workplace
    The Parties recognize the goal of eliminating sex-based discrimination in employment and occupation, and support the goal of promoting equality of women in the workplace. Accordingly, each Party shall implement policies that protect workers against employment discrimination on the basis of sex, including with regard to pregnancy, sexual harassment, sexual orientation, gender identity, and caregiving responsibilities, provide job-protected leave for birth or adoption of a child and care of family members, and protect against wage discrimination.

    Implement policies. Not, labour legislation, not labour regulations… policies.

    And the definition section contains no definition of “policy”.

    https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/files/agreements/FTA/USMCA/01%20Initial%20Provisions%20and%20General%20Definitions.pdf

    1. Reminds me of the useage of the word “nominal” which I used a lot in contract and technical language and which tends to mean “essentially meaningless”.

      Merriam-Webster “existing or being something in name or form only”

      Ha ha Junior .. you lost on the Social Justice BS .

  2. For the Liberals – every step, every action, is about Image – for Votes. Not content, not the economy, but the IMAGE for the voters. They operate on the assumption that for 80% of the population, the feeling, the impression, the image – defines everyone’s opinion.

    Note that Canada went into this event with NO economic agenda, i.e., no requests for more economic access to this industry, to that market….No, it went in with social requests: gender equality, climate change…and…even interfering in State’s issues of right-to-work legislation. How’s that for the content of an international trade agreement? On the economic issues – it wanted NO Change.

    What Trump wanted – was to stop China from using Canada as a backdoor for getting its steel into the US. That was a major agenda. The Dairy Cartel – hmm…yes, but not as vital as the China-Canada backwoods highway. Oh – and Trump also wanted a 6 year renewal clause; he’s a businessman and knows that the economy changes and doesn’t want to be locked into deals that ignore these changes. Canada, of course, didn’t want this – but – ..

    Trump confronted them – and the Butts-T2 are not used to confrontation. They are used to dealing in images which they carefully control and send out. So, after the G7, Trudeau instantly, within minutes of Trump’s leaving, self-defined Himself as David fighting Goliath and claimed he would Fight-for-Canada, in particular, for the dairy cartel. Trump was furious – and that, quite seriously, ended a ‘nice and gentle negotiation over NAFTA’. Oh, that was a big mistake by Butts-T2…

    From then on – with Trump, it was either His Way or Nothing. And so- he finalized a Mexico-US deal. Imagine – a bilateral deal. Canada was stunned, shocked – and bleated in the media: “He can’t do this; it has to be a three-nation deal. He can’t do a bilateral deal with Mexico [Of course he can]. He has to include Canada!! It’s against the law; Canada has to be involved…..”.

    And Trump’s reply? He said: “No more NAFTA, it doesn’t exist anymore”. And Canada flipped out – and realized that yes indeed, Canada could be left out in the dark – and it would have to make some kind of deal. And switched to Section 19, which I claim is irrelevant and ‘We keep our dairy cartel’ and… Trump’s response was: “Have you ever heard about tariffs on your auto sector?????????

    And Doug Ford intervened then – while the media harrumphed – “What’s Ford doing? He has no business there”….but..it highlighted the RESULT of No NAFTA….which was, as Trump kept repeating: Auto tariffs, auto tariffs, auto tariffs, auto….And as The Day loomed, The Day set up by the US of: Do it Or Else…..auto tariffs, auto tariffs’…. And several key Canadian bankers went to the Butts-T2 gang and warned them – DO IT or Canada is finished.. [Not by the lack of trade but by those auto tariffs…]

    And Freeland all dressed in white, dashed back to Washington…..and, and…Soo – now, the dairy cartel is cracking, and we all know, that when you crack a milk jar, there’s no mending it…And the six year renewal plan nullifies any Section 19.

    So who won? Heh. The US won. And Mexico – with its huge population, which is now being forced into the modern world by focusing on higher-wage work [and this might stem the illegals flow] – ..And who lost? China. And Canada? Well, perhaps more dairy farmers will be possible, with the dairy cartel being slightly cracked open…and? But then, again, Canada didn’t go in with any economic expansionist agenda; it just wanted its comfort zone acknowledged. So?

    3. Trudeau has deemed that any so-called hit to the dairy mafia, in this case 3.5%, will be covered by taxpayers money in additional subsidies to the cartel. Once again, under the Liberals, the majority of Canadians are the ones taking the hit.

    5. ET phoning home? !!!! 🙂
      For the Liberals – every step, every action, is about Image – for Votes. Not content, not the economy, but the IMAGE for the voters. They operate on the assumption that for 80% of the population, the feeling, the impression, the image – defines everyone’s opinion.
      Yep. Subjective reality conditioning. This should annoy them even if it’s not really true.
      https://imgflip.com/i/2j3p45

    6. Great post as usual, hope your return is for the long term.
      So glad we have Doug Ford to help save this deal. Justin Competent gets kicked in the ass again.

    7. Hitting on all cylinders ET, welcome back. Can you verify you are the SDA friend from years past?

      1. Shamrock – yes, it’s me. [But of course, even if I were not, I could easily declare ‘It’s me’.]
        In this era of ungrounded rhetoric, words can simply float around in the ICloud.

        The thing that I find of interest – and I wonder when it’s going to hit home to Canadians, is the Rise of Mexico in N. America. How will that affect Canada?
        ‘Before’ – the image of Mexico was primarily as a place to visit in the ice-phase of Winter, a site of tasty ‘Mexican food’, and a haven of drugs, poverty, corruption..and really cheap goods.
        I think that era is moving rapidly away and Mexico is becoming an economic force, and, as allied with the US, more important than Canada – especially with the dimwits we now have playing at government.

        The very name of the agreement: USMCA – says it all. But again, the Butts-T2 focus on imagery rather than economics – whether in that disastrous India Dress-Up scenario, or in his David-Goliath post G7 speech – has led them to ignore actual economic issues and focus only on the social: gender, climate, diversity etc – all irrelevant, and above all, all issues to be decided by the LOCAL people, not by some external foreign government.

        So – in my view, the big winners are the US and Mexico. Canada – nothing, other than Canada’s dairy milk jar has cracked open and will be gone by the next negotiation in 6 years – and the big result is that China has lost its freedom to use Canada as its backdoor to the US for its ‘rotten steel’.

        1. “Rotten Steel”. GREAT comment.

          As someone that works in the Fabriation/Repair – Oil/Gas Industry – you have that one Nailed ET..!!

          Welcome Back – am in agreement that this is a poor “safe face” deal for us, done only because the consequences otherwise were simply not acceptable…Even so, I think there was a LOT of OUTSIDE pressure put on the morons in the PMO to actually use what little cranial capacity they had and to ditch their juvenile SJW stance.

          We will still pay over $5.00 for a gallon of milk…regardless. And I shall watch as the Auto Industry in this country slowly falters and fades away…as it has for years.

        2. ” the big result is that China has lost its freedom to use Canada as its backdoor to the US for its ‘rotten steel’.”

          There’s nothing remotely rotten about Chinese steel nor is there evidence of large amounts of transshipment-not that it’s at all a bad thing for America. Simply saving them from their government’s idiotic import taxes.

          2. Was in the pipeline business for years. Chinese steel had to be very closely monitored because much of it was crap. Yes…..Chinese steel can be absolute crap.

          3. Yes … and Chinese dog food did not really KILL anyone’s pets. Those dogs were just … resting.

          4. Doesn’t really matter it’s not the government’s business to make choices for me or anyone else.

        3. Welcome back officially. Yes, anybody could claim to be “you,” but I remember your clear, succinct writing style.

          I doubt that can be duplicated on the Cloud, that would require knowledge and understanding of the issues, which you demonstrated in your posting. Yes, Canada may be a minor player in this, but at least we are on the inside, instead of the outside looking in, as Trump threatened if Canada didn’t come to the table.

          Given the Quebec election is today, Trudeau obviously felt he had enough political cover to give in a little on dairy.

          He and his statist friends at the NDP are still in for a butt kicking in AB next year, which I hope CPC leader Andrew Scheer uses to secure and maintain political momentum heading into the fall 2019 federal election.

          Maxime Bernier, the disloyal fool he is, has actually helped Scheer in Quebec, where he is nowhere anyway, by bleeding off Liberal votes which could pay dividends to the CPC and NDP in Quebec.

          It all boils down to Southern Ontario, more specifically the 905 belt, and that is why Trudeau made his deal with Trump because of the political damage he would suffer with US tariffs on auto imports from Canada.

          Like I said, good to have you back. I don’t always agree with you, but I always enjoy arguing with you if I don’t.

          1. “Maxime Bernier, the disloyal fool he is”

            Salty Con tears made the whole Bernier Rising worth it.

    8. “They operate on the assumption that for 80% of the population, the feeling, the impression, the image – defines everyone’s opinion.”

      And, given the percentage of the electorate that votes Liberal, NDP, Green or pink PC, they’re probably not that far off.

      1. ET provides a great counterpoint and contrast to the lunacy and illogic of UnMe. For that alone I thank you ET.

        1. ET does not provide ‘counterpoints’ he is just extremely verbose and tedious. Melded together this creates the impression of intellect that isn’t there and can be used to validate your rationalizations.

  3. Maybe Canada needs to changed its method of subsidy of dairy products closer to the method the Americans use. Put a hidden sales tax on all dairy products and then provide direct subsidies to producers. It would eliminate an American advantage of cheaper subsidized wholesale prices.

    1. It would be much better for Canada to buy out the dairy farmers and go immediately to free trade in dairy. Any US subsidies would then flow to Canadian consumers.

      This would simultaneously have the effect of eliminating the Liberal party’s “beggar Canada, to reward our dairy producing friends “ scam.

      1. Why buy out the dairy farmers? The quota has always been issued free of charge. Tell them their quota is being doubled and their farmgate price is being halved.

      2. “go immediately to free trade in dairy. ”

        And you think Americans want free trade in dairy products? Not likely. They like getting 73% of their revenue from government.

        1. Scar, are we talking about what’s best for Canada, or the ruling class?

          I am talking about which is the better option for Canada as a whole, you are talking about what’s best for that part of Canada commonly known as the Liberal Party.

    2. Yes. This agreement does little to make Canadian Dairy join the competitive real world. Apparently class 7 milk has been eliminated and it was one of the only tools available to grow a stagnant industry. Its demise will just cause more retrenchment and despair for Canadian Dairy. A change to supply management is here staring us in the face.

      1. The real despair will be in the Liberal Party. Or should trade policy ignore the interests of 36+ million Canadians, who have to live within a limited budget?

        The dairy farmers who expanded their operation based on chapter 6 and 7 were gambling, and they alone are responsible for any losses based on that decision.

    3. The “supply management” system provides FAR higher pay outs to dairy farmers in Canada than the subsidies in the US do. MUCH higher. And all at the expense of consumers.

    4. ‘ Maybe Canada needs to changed its method of subsidy of dairy products closer to the method the Americans use.”

      Maybe what Canada needs to do first of all is admit, as you just did, that our present supply management system with its attendant tariffs functions exactly the same way as subsidies.

      1. It’s worse than subsidies because it’s so bad for choice.

        Lab-grown milk will put an end to all this silliness in the next few years.

        1. Damn publik health care. Who the f|_|ck let you out of the loony bin during the work day? Lately they only gave you a home pass during some weekends. Or did you finally figure out how to squeeze though the bars while tied to a mattress? Useless incompetent unionized security,

  4. On behalf of 35 million Canadian consumers, I want to thank President Trump for doing what no Canadian politician had the guts to do – rid Canadians of the much despised Dairy Supply Cartel.

    1. Yeah, but the Dairy Cartel was imposed by the God of Trudopia, crazy Peeair… he was and remains infallible, don’t cha know… Peeair was a master at dividing Trudopians into “minority groups” that are rewarded with special status and Government protections at the expense of the majority… (forced french, muti cult, the Indian rackets) I don’t see Peeairs imposed Dairy Cartel as anything different. Peeairs country is a diseased mess, as intended… the cracks were inevitable.

  5. Don’t look now, but the US and Japan are going to do a bilateral free trade agreement. The media pretty much blacked it out. After all, the world’s biggest and third biggest economy coming together in a bilateral agreement is nothing important. Of course, it is a total 180 for Japan who wanted a multi-pact similar to the tran-Pacific Trade Agreement which Trump pulled the US out of.

    Divide and conquer. Sound familiar?

  6. Interesting that the person most interested in preserving and growing Canada’s manufacturing sector in this was – Donald Trump.

    From what I’ve seen this agreement slowly ratchets up the requirement for Canadian content in exports to the United States which means Canada will have to do more than simply assemble components built in China.

    Big win for Canada if true and it will drive a huge wedge into the Liberal party because this is totally at odds with what the environmentalist want for Canada ( no manufacturing)

    1. That’s your problem, now isn’t it small c … you’re a strategic thinker. Shame. That’s so much harder to do than live a shallow life built of sound bytes and … feeeeeeeeelings.

    2. “From what I’ve seen this agreement slowly ratchets up the requirement for Canadian content in exports to the United States which means Canada will have to do more than simply assemble components built in China.

      Big win for Canada if true”

      That’s not remotely good for Canada or America. It just means American consumers get to have more expensive cars.

        1. Consumer habits are the modern equivalent of our instinct for SURVIVAL. Only the truly DUMB consumer buys things they cannot afford. The rest of us will just hunker-down and find a cheaper product, or extend the life of the one we have, or go without. Economics doesn’t LIE … $$ is our very survival

          1. If the Trump admin succeeds in stopping the freight train of new regs that are the single most inflationary force acting on the price of new cars/trucks, that leaves a lot of room to allow for more domestic (and POSSIBLY) more expensive content.
            A freeze on new emissions, fuel economy, and safety regs – today’s cars are only marginally safer and cleaner than a 1993 model, but vastly safer and cleaner than any similar 1968 product- could reduce manufacturing costs by thousands of dollars per unit inside of a decade.
            Evolutionary improvements in fuel economy, emissions, and structural integrity will still occur, but they will be done in a customer driven fashion, instead of being imposed upon the customer. This will make the car industry more dynamic, and the ability to source more parts domestically will improve the economy overall.

  8. Would suggest here that Canada did not lose.
    It is the completely useless and headless Canadian government that lost.
    The deal for Canada is good, not as the airhead in Ottawa said that no NAFTA is better than bad deal.
    Of course the airhead would not know what deal is bad or good, he does not care, it’s all in the optics.
    This time it remains to be seen how do they spin the optics.
    No doubt the media cartel and the “entertainers” are working on it as you’re reading this screed.

    1. Yep, the scripts are being written and the imbecile with the fake eyebrows is memorizing his lines… the Media will declare the Soros employees, Nazi Girl, Magic Socks as the big winners, Trump bad. All so predictable as the Media cartel remains the voice of the globalists and the Libranos.

  9. Put aside the optics for a moment.
    What happened is that we just dodged a bullet.
    Team Sockmonkey delayed hoping they didn’t have to agree to the concessions on dairy till after the Quebec election. Now its front and center on election day.
    Is it a Trudeau family tradition to cause this crap?

  11. It seems to be little change – farm access. Steel & aluminum tarifs remain in place. 6 year review. Auto quota 2.6M per year. Still no open “cultural industries” banks or telecomm. Lumber?

    Awaiting details.

    1. It seems the main thrust of the US was to reduce, if not eliminate, the Chiner back door from here to the US.
      The rest was just noise to scare the crap out of Juthtin and his water carriers. Seems to have finally worked as someone realized that the auto sector was too valuable to screw with.
      The other upside is there will not be a snap election by TruDOPE. That is now put to rest, too many LIVs believe every bit of nonsense from the LPC and their propaganda tools and useful idiots of the Canadian Media

      1. “It seems the main thrust of the US was to reduce, if not eliminate, the Chiner back door from here to the US.”

        IOW it made trade less free.

        There’s no reason we should let that door be closed. End all tariffs.

  12. Hopefully someone in Quebec has translated this in time for today’s provincial election so their dairy mafia can understand the implications and impact upon their welfare ridden province.

    though I think they used to build cars in Quebec too.

    *good to see ET comment again.

  13. This trade agreement just might be the “shot heard round the world” that started the US War of Independence from Globalism.

    Best President in my lifetime.

  14. Trump is a paramount chief. He gets what he wants. I’m betting the US position improved on every clause over NAFTA.

    In any event it really doesn’t matter – the deal is done even if Trump had to call in Jared who dealt with buthole and Katie.

    Looks like chrystal was left on the sideline.

  15. I tell you if I wasted as much time and money as Trudeau and Freeland did on this, and all I brought back to my boss was this deal, I would be fired.

    This enitre NAFTA negotiation has been nothing other than a make work and make image project for the Liberals.

    2. We’ve always been able to buy California wines in B.C. liquor stores,for as long as I can remember. I much prefer California wines to B.C. wines which are very acidic and basically taste like grape juice and battery acid.
      I know I’m committing treason ,living in the Okanagan where every second farm is a winery, but my experience has always been with B.C. wines from the cheapest plonk to the $50/750 ml bottle, a bitter aftertaste and heartburn within minutes. Wine is made in 10,000 liter vats, it should be cheap and smooth, but B.C. sticks to cute names and fancy labels for undrinkable slop.
      I can buy a California wine for$15 that tastes better than a B.C. wine at two or three times the price.

      What do B.C. wines taste like; Rolaids.

      1. “a bitter aftertaste and heartburn within minutes”
        German wines seem to be better that way. I’m not much for wine but can drink those with no problems.

      2. meh.. In Alberta don’t have Govt Liquor Stores. We thank King Ralph for that bit of common sense. Costco does an admirable job of selling Vino – fav being J. Lohr Cab Sauv…at $19.95 per – Berrigner Cab Sauv for $13.95 per also fills our wine rack. Add 4-6 dollars for identical product in BC.

        Beer/Liquor here has been “non govt” for many a year. (less Public Servants feeding at the trough).

      3. Better to buy Argentine wine. Infinitely superior to California and BC wines. Better prices too.

        1. Just curious … when you swirl the Argentine wine in your glass … do you rotate the vino clockwise? or counter-clockwise?

        2. Australian wines are good as well and generally cost less than California wines. Many countries are producing grapes and making wine. It’s a competetive business.

    3. Well Kenji I hope that you are right on this, I love the Cali wines. I hope the tax morons up here don t price them out of the market.

    4. I have no problem buying California wines in the LCBO (Ontario), they have a good selection. The same goes for the SAQ in Quebec.

  17. Canada will always be a Western nation backwater, as long as we continue to be feminist nice guys. I was discussing Canada with my son last night, and I said, “As long as Canada sits on it’s resources like they’re a contaminant to never be released, we will always be a weak nation”. Canada has some of the world’s largest reserves in natural resources, and yet we punish anyone who tries to exploit our advantage. We punish anyone who tries to assist in bringing it to market. We punish anyone who even advocates for using these resources. We could be the number one oil producer in the world. We could be the number one lumber exporter in the world, and we could be the largest mineral exporter as well. Never mind the fishing, agriculture and water. We exported a high of 467 billion dollars of goods and resources in 2017, we could easily double and triple that without building up a sweat. The Federal government would be rolling in cash, and unemployment would be negligible. But instead, we allow ourselves to be saddled with a cabal of eastern elitists that insist their palms get greased on every transaction, and each deal serves to make them appear to be heroes to their activist sycophants. Canada, having to watch the U.S. grow in leaps and bounds while we’re forced to sit along the wall like long forgotten, recently widowed ladies, who were not allowed to dance lest it be improper, is going to dissolve. One can only take pressing one’s face against the glass for so long, before one chooses to remove it.

    1. The nice thing about the deal is it’s a political loser for Trudles – China progressively will be locked out by the private sector ( higher Canadian content on exports), great incentives to increase Canadian manufacturing and resource extraction( enviros will LOVE that), end of chapter 6 and 7 in dairy, sunset clause: no catering to Trudle’s political needs.

    1. Careful, the dairy cartel will declare you their property and hook you to a machine.

    2. “if I drink hormone infused US milk, will I start lactating?”

      Are you under the impression that the same hormones aren’t in use in Canada?

    4. Ah yes…..the “hormone” bullshit. Actually, Canadian milk has the same hormones…..because it naturally occurs in lactating cows. Nothing more than dairy cartel propaganda. In truth, the hormone rbST did not pose ANY threat to humans. And less than 20% of US dairy farms actually put any in. The cows are receiving a hormone that they already already naturally produce. In addition to the findings of Health Canada, The World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the FDA ALL have concluded that rbST is NO risk to human health (including infants and children).

  19. Canada, while unemployment goes up, inflation goes up, GDP goes down, mortgage rates go up and taxes increase

    https://www.statista.com/statistics/263742/total-population-in-canada/

    There is only one possible destination on this road, and it is 1983. Remember this during the reign of error by Pierre?
    -mortgage rates peaked at 21.46%
    -unemployment peaked at 13.1%
    -metric system forced on Canada by parliament
    -inflation rate near 13%

    Never mind the all the SJW crap as well, you’re going to be too busy making ends meet to pay attention to the bolshevik takeover.

    1. This is a real red herring (Turd 1 = high interest rates). Interest rates peaked in the USA at the same time. There was a massive shortage of capital and too many baby boomers buying their first home. Remember, if you had money you earned 18% interest on your capital. The opposite is happening now. Too many baby boomers saving for retirement – too much capital and not enough borrowers, so very low interest rates. The next problem will be retiring boomers – going from saving to collecting pensions. We will likely be hit with low mortgage rates, low unemployment, moderate inflation, higher taxes and a means test for social programs like OAS and CPP. Plus capital gains tax back on primary residence sale. Higher taxes on RRSP withdrawals. Declining housing prices, stagflation or deflation. Crappy hospitals and a poor education system (which we are getting into now). We haven’t had a war in over 60 years. Lot’s of old, demented, fat people to herd around.

      1. Turd 1 = high interest rates. Just because the U.S. was saddled with Ford/Carter and caused the same chaos does not excuse. Pierre deliberately drove the rates up hoping to bring in more foreign investment. Rates were much lower throughout most of the world at the time, and he had hoped to rescue his economy by inflating the returns they could make. Most European countries were averaging10 points lower on their interest rates. Unfortunately, that may have brought in a few dollars, but no jobs.

        As for too much capital, there are a great many places to invest. Banks, financial companies, and brokers do not confine themselves to opportunities available only in Canada. There are scads of money to be made on the markets and the U.S. these days,. and that is why Poloz is raising rates, again, and again, and again. The capital is leaving and no one cares to invest in this sinking ship. We will have inflation because everyone’s costs are going up due to borrowing costs, but the prosperity the U.S. is having will not spill over.

        I disagree with your conclusion of low unemployment, and low mortgage rates, but I agree, the taxes will always go up, and services will continue to go down, but as for the old, they in essence are a commodity that provides jobs as well. How one treats their elders speaks volumes of their culture.

    2. And the Canadian people sat back and watched as they could not afford their houses due to huge interest increases by banks and mortgage companies. Meanwhile their employers laid them off for lack of work and lenders came to repossess their cars, their kids went from middle class to welfare class in the matter of a few months. Guess what, they cloaked themselves in a blanket of self pity and waited for the government to make things better. They should have stormed Parliment Hill and lynched that bastard Peeair Turdeau for what he had done to the country!

  20. Here is Trump’s announcement of the deal. (Scroll to the 50 minute mark — there is a long waiting time for him to appear.)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZASH0g_bBw
    I think Trump has gotten a good deal that will benefit his country. Canada will likely also reap benefits — certainly consumers will, but in the end we all benefit from a context where China is not allow to sabotage trade with the US. China was able to exploit loop holes in the previous agreement. Really, those who viewed this as a Canada vs. US competition and another reason to hate Trump (people such as Trudeau and Freeland) — rather than seeing the potential for gain for everyone — missed the big picture.

  21. Well, given what is in this deal, we could have had this wrapped up months ago. I can’t recall the commentator who nailed it, but this is basically the deal he said we’d get, and it would include a compromise on dairy, and there was no way around that. It looks like Trudeau, et al. were going to run down the clock to the last minute so they could go to Canadian Dairy and say they fought for them to the end, and this was the best they could do. So, for the sake of that Trudeau stressed the economy unnecessarily, and put a lot business people, workers, you and me, through the anxiety of wondering about our jobs, our retirement investments, etc. for little more than usual cynical political maneuvering that far too many Canadians let steer them into supporting the ongoing stupidity of left/liberal governance. Again, as many have said, with this government it’s not substance, but appearance that matters. God save us from another four-five years of this.

    1. This is a mathematical problem. It’s the ratio of beer to milk that is important. As your milk consumption approaches zero your beer consumption should approach infinity. You can argue with me but you can’t argue with mathematics.

  23. The Spawn and his Jr High Student Council discovered that they can’t play poker with someone who holds all the cards. They had to give Trump a win or loose the auto sector. If it ends in the demise of the Dairy Cartel it’s a win for all Canadians but 13000 quota holders and for half of them they could eventually end up growing without buying quota.

    1. As I’ve constantly tried to make the point, with no marketing boards, farmers won’t have to spend tens of thousands of dollars each year to buy the license to produce milk, eggs, chickens, whatever. That could be invested in beer and popcorn or economic expansion.

    2. But Trump doesn’t ‘hold all the cards’. He holds a giant trade mess and it’s clearly costing him politically. The midterms are the reason he agreed to this mild revamp of NAFTA.

      Not that it will help much; it will still be a slaughter.

          1. That would be considered a system for a democracy. We are a republic.
            As for its sanity — well, there is a reason why we are supposed to be a constitutional republic and not a democracy (very unstable things those are — mob rules, all that…can get messy very quickly).

            I for one am quite glad that my country (indeed, the world) dodged the smelly, vile bullet that is Hillary Clinton.

  24. FYI, I have gone over scar’s posts, and concluded he is nothing more than a dairy lobby sock puppet.

    So anything, he says can can be rejected simply by using as much evidence as he provides. Since he provides zero evidence of his assertions, they can simply be ignored.

  26. Still awaiting details but the farm stuff covers more than milk n’est-c’pas? Also chickens, eggs etc.

      1. ne c’est pas?
        Sorry fingers mal-translated. Naughty fingers; I will send them to re-education camp.

    2. When eggs in Canada go on sale by $0.75 off the normal price, I buy extra and do something with them.

      Last winter a friend was telling me how things would be for him when he moved to Tampa, Florida, and he showed me a food flyer advertising eggs for $0.75 / doz.

  27. I really think Max Bernier defection has given the Liberals confidence they can win the next election , thus preventing a snap election. I also believe they were going to win anyway. It is unfortunate the whole affair was so badly handled . We needed this trade deal, and although I suspect we had to give some ground it should be remembered that when the U.S. Does well we typically benefit. It should also be remembered if Trump had not pushed it we would still be dilly dallying around. It will and is being spun in Canada as a huge victory standing up to a bully and most people will buy it . Now if we can just get the ability to move goods unhindered through Canada ( unlikely). Is Max going to be the alternative we hope for? I like much of what he is saying, but who knows. At least there may be someone to vote for without vomitting or being drunk!

    1. “I really think Max Bernier defection has given the Liberals confidence they can win the next election … I also believe they were going to win anyway.”

      Absolutely. Mr. 2 percent Scheer is nothing but dimples and diarrhea and everyone knows it.

  28. A big win for Trump? Then why is Chapter 19 intact?

    The correct thing for Lighthizer to do was to tell Chrystia Freeland that time was up, and that negotiations would resume in earnest when grownups were back in charge in Ottawa, because American sovereignty was not negotiable. And that would have been the end of the Trudeau Liberals, because the Ontario economy would have imploded almost at once—taking the housing market with it—just in time for the 2019 election.

    A big win for the Deep State, maybe.

      1. US courts would never delegate US law to free trade tribunals or any other versions of anarchic international law.

        All Ch19 does is allow an injured country to countervail. The softwood lumber debacles reveals this toothless provision.

  29. Nice to know that the Canadian tourists clogging local roads all summer will be able to spend more money here tax free.

    1. Not really. The increased duty free allowance only applies to on-line shopping according to what I read.

  30. It’s literally a somewhat crappier version of NAFTA. Even the name sucks. The substantial changes are mostly bad with a bizarre $16/hr minimum wage being imposed on the North American auto sector and content standards getting ratcheted. Enjoy more expensive cars.

    https://reason.com/blog/2018/10/01/nafta-rewrite-could-warp-automakers-supp#comment

    “But beyond that, other bigger markets become more closed and more managed. We and the Mexicans are no longer free to export as many cars and parts to the U.S. as we want to. We now face the possibility of permanent quotas on steel and aluminum. And private investors lose the protection of Chapter 11, which let them challenge governments that unfairly favoured local investors. If you want foreign investment, as we do, reducing foreign investors’ rights is not a good way to get it.”

    https://business.financialpost.com/opinion/william-watson-prepare-to-miss-nafta-because-our-trade-just-got-less-free#comments-area

    The US consumer is the main loser here. Again: unilateral free trade is the only way to go.

    1. unilateral free trade is the only way to go….if you want to buy everything from China and no jobs here of any kind

        1. LOL spoken with a conviction of someone who has taken an Economics 105 as their elective (not the Econ 100 that was offered to those who had hopes getting an economics degree but the 105, the short bus economics taught by a grad student or a retired prof) and earned a solid C+. Good job kiddo. So you have learned about comparative advantage. Yay, super. You have studied international trade through a prism of a static model with no strategic behavior, with perfect information, no fixed costs or rigidities. And the question was on a test and you have passed the course. So you know. Sure.

          Nope sorry, you have no clue.

  31. I’m thankful that there is a new agreement, whatever it’s called (disclosure: I have not read any of the background papers available, etc., so I don’t really know what it all means yet).

    Nevertheless, it came as a surprise to me that it finally got done, literally at ten minutes before midnight. I had come to assume that the drift and drifters in Ottawa (all of them, and not just the Liberals) would just let the deadline slide, and that a possible re-entry into a North American arrangement would have to await an entirely new crew, possibly on both sides of the border, which will be at least six years from now (there’ll be no change in American leadership in 2020).

    By my read of the news reports, nothing jumps out at me that could not have been settled in the first morning of negotiations back in August of last year, when the Americans announced their intention to re-negotiate, with the possible exception of the wage requirement on automobile/auto parts production. Astonishingly, in the circumstances, it took the Mexicans/Americans to put that one through, without Canada’s involvement (even though the Ottawa crowd had started its response to the American announcement with a bunch of non-sequiturs on, um, peripheral “concepts”, including labour issues). Given that, why not an agreement after a morning of talks after that measure was announced?

    It’s a very strange time at the national level in Canada. The government, as has been ably — and often — said elsewhere, approaches things from a weird perspective (and I utterly agree with that): the country is in the “fight of its life” (really, as opposed to John Turner debating points) over North American trade, yet leading members of the government (including the one responsible for the trade file), choose to insult the President of the United States in the last days before the deadline. In the midst of which, it seems more important to the outfit in Ottawa to seek a seat on the UN Security Council (an utterly useless endeavour; party like it’s 1956!) than to attend to business.

    Let’s talk, for a moment, about a couple of issues around southwestern Ontario. All of fifteen minutes drive outside Stratford ON, where I live, your lyin’ eyes will tell you that the dairy industry (all supply management, actually) is fully restructured and ready for competition with the U.S., Europe and TPP members. Yet, there’s no give on any of this: it’s held up negotiations for months. Completely oblivious in Ottawa (both sides; the tail wags the dog, apparently). No creativity, no progress, no nothin’. Knock, knock, knock! Anybody home?

    So then (and our old friend, ET, will like this one), we get into a Twitter fight with Saudi Arabia over a matter that needed to be resolved quietly, maybe with the assistance of the Americans, who would surely have been proud to help out. A $15 billion contract with General Dynamics Land Systems Canada, of London ON, hangs in the balance.

    More directly important to me, I had to have a medical procedure last week at London Health Sciences Centre (Westminster Campus), wherein two of the Docs (residents) who have been working on my case for the past eight months and who are from Saudi Arabia, almost (literally, hours) had to be extracted from the country over this complete and abject nonsense! I can tell you, with absolute certainty, that the advanced health care system in southwestern Ontario would collapse without them.

    And where is the Opposition on any of this?

    Justin Trudeau and Andrew Scheer, channeling John Turner, I say to you: “You’ve sold out our health care, our manufacturing and our agriculture.”

    After, I might add, the President, in virtually his first act in office, approves Keystone XL. What’s that about?

    I

  32. Turdeau and Freeland’s negotiating strategy can be summed up as:

    Justin, there’s no need to grope around
    I said Justin, don’t be such a clown
    I said Justin, ‘cause your socks are now brown
    There’s no need to be down

    Freeland, there’s a place you can grow
    I said, Freeland, when you’re short on some pot
    you can play there, but I don’t think find
    a feminine good spot

    It’s fun to play at the USMCA
    It’s fun to play at the USMCA

    with appropriate apologies to ABCD…XX YY ZZ

    1. I’ve been waiting all day for the pun plays on “YMCA.” Thank you.

      That song was performed by the Village People.

      The new version is performed by the Village Idiots.

  34. Nice to see ET back.

    I am on the road for three weeks and it is hard to type comments. There are many great comments on the trade agreement above, particularly Indianna Jane’s comment @ 1:50. Without seeing all the details, it appears that Canada is an also ran.

  35. This agreement will do a lot to speed the demise of Canada’s carbon foolishness: The talk will be about how to make Canada more competitive so that the auto companies don’t pack up and leave when it’s time to make decisions on investment in Canadian plants. One big obvious way to make Canada more competitive is to get rid of the ludacrous electricity pricing in Ontario. If it continues there’s no place for the price to go except up. There won’t be enough slack to give preferential pricing for industrial users.

  36. As I posted in the Tips Thread – In reality – the USMCA deal is a US-Mexico deal. There is NOTHING in it for Canada – Indeed, Canada has lost; i.e., it lost its dairy cartel which the taxpayers are going to have to subsidize; it lost its backdoor route for Chinese steel from China; – and it lost Section 19 which has effectively been replaced not only by a 6 year renewal clause but by that NEW clause that says that ANY trade deal made by any party in the triad -meaning in particular Canada – has to be reviewed and approved by the others – i.e., by the USA.

    Good god – it’s a tectonic shift. It’s not a new NAFTA. Trump said: NAFTA is gone and is it ever. The new partners are the US and Mexico.

    People don’t realize – Mexico is not the Mexico of several decades ago. It has 124 million people vs Canada’s 34 million, and it is focused on moving into a middle class economy. There are more people in Mexico with high incomes than in Canada! That means: Investment and Production as well as Consumption – i.e., a high activity in all three phases of an economy. What is Trudeau focused on???? Gender equality, climate change, multiculturalism, dress-up costumes…and.. stopping the Canadian economy dead.

    Canada, with its climate and small population has one economic ‘thing’ to market as Indiana Jane has pointed out so well.
    Canada has rich and vast natural resources – and it refuses to acknowledge or use them, it refuses to extract, produce and sell its vast oil, gas, lumber, water resources. So- its population, deprived of any opportunity to invest and produce its own marketable goods and services – are left, for the most part, running US based franchise companies. Or, working for the govt [media, academic, health, civil service].

    This USMCA agreement is not merely empty for Canada, totally empty, but it binds Canada to the US overseeing it! Canada has to seek US approval for its trade agreements! We all know this was a move vs China and was done because Canada refused to deal with China on its own – but – can you imagine – what it does to Canadian sovereignty.

    Heh – serves Canada right – for trying to insist that it, a foreign govt, has a say in the work laws of US States. The real winners are the US and Mexico. Canada has been reduced not merely to irrelevance but to being restrained by the economic agendas of these two nations.

    1. Agreed ET. Canada OTOH is being run down economically by a ruling class mentality that denies our country the lifeblood of our prosperity, natural resource development, preferring to discuss battling climate change and gender pronouns.

      The last time this happened to the extent of now, is when Trudeau the elder came back from his walk in the snow to defeat Joe Clark and set Canada on a statist course, just as Britain under Thatcher and the US under Reagan was fueling prosperity that continued into the millennium.

      But the flaw of democracy is that as a society we do the hard work to get out of the hole, but then go back to our complacency of letting the government do it and they’re all the same. Meanwhile the inexorable progressive march to Marxist fascism continues apace, until we put a stop to it, again, and the mouse continues the wheel run.

    2. Canada – vast wealth in resources, and too stupid to use this great gift. For the amount of wealth we sit on, and how small a population we have, we should all be rich beyond our wildest dreams, able to hire whatever country we wanted to, to do the work for us.

  37. “Chapter 11, which let them challenge governments that unfairly favoured local investors. If you want foreign investment, as we do, reducing foreign investors’ rights is not a good way to get it” Unme

    That is the smartest thing you have ever said, but it was Environmentalists that didn’t want Company Investment protected…How
    will Canada deal with the Carrot & Radish people….Mexico won’t play that game, that means Canada has a Problem.. Nothing that Money won’t Cure… See how easy it was to build a pipeline & kill the Whales @ Kitamat… Competing Judges share the wealth

    ET…You are Right… Mexico was the target that has the support of the “Think Tanks” on all sides….New Socialist Gov’t wants development distributed inland away from the present Border….They will succeed in providing a middle class if Trumps America succeeds.. Canada will need to up their game… The Train has moved beyond mere imagination

  38. Hard to feel sorry for the dairy cartel.
    So many other Canadian industries have been abandoned by our governments. Lumber, pulp and paper, oil and gas, mining, commercial fishing and who knows how many more have withered because of uncaring governments. Personally been affected.
    Canada does not want a healthy, prosperous, growing economy.

    1. I wish government would abandon all Canadian industries. IOW, leave them alone. As for free trade, until we get reciprocity, the free movement of goods and services without regard for a border, we’re not there yet.

      I like Donald Trump as a president, but he only talks about reciprocity. We have a comparative advantage in steel & aluminum and softwood lumber to name two industries. That should spurn exports to the US, not tariffs. The China dumping issue is a red herring (many argue and I have yet to see strong evidence), but we have an opportunity to be on the winning US team, rather than the losing teams in protectionist Asia and Europe. That should be obvious to all.

      But, turning our backs on our resource industry to chase climate change watermelons destroys that, it ends DOA.

      Increased resource development, especially the oil sands, pipelines, refineries, Candu nuclear plants, that should be our plan. But is isn’t, so free trade is impossible because we can never be freed from parasitic industries that exist predominately out of government largesse. Look at the “compensation” for rich dairy farmers in the latest agreement.

      For crying out loud there is a theory of economic development based on Canadians’ unique and rich bounty of natural resources, fisheries and agriculture – the “Staple Theory of Economic Growth,” whereby nations leverage their national endowments with international trade. BTW, Mel Watkins, a name familiar to some wrote the citation for Canadian Encyclopedia, so consider that source, nothing pervasive about the Canadian experience with economic staples).

      https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/canadian-journal-of-economics-and-political-science-revue-canadienne-de-economiques-et-science-politique/article/staple-theory-of-economic-growth/B71E2D2F7230A0BEA0E4EB6D0214A197

      Let’s get real on trade; everyone. Fortress North America can immunize itself from the distorting effects of EU protectionism, particularly on agriculture, and the predatory trade practices of China and other nations. I’m not saying don’t trade with them, but don’t pretend they’ll offer any relief from their protectionism with a neo-Trudeau “third option” do-over.

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