Ottawa says Ontario's call to drop retaliatory tariffs would mean 'surrender'

White_Unifier

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https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ont-us-tariffs-1.5004736
Let me get this straight. The US raised tariffs against Canada and so essentially shot itself in the foot in the process. Well, we can't have that, so Canada retaliated by raising retaliatory tariffs and so essentially shot itself in the foot in retaliation.
Ontario and Quebec are now asking Ottawa to stop shooting Canada in the foot and Ottawa says it refuses to do that since to do so would equal surrendering to the US.
Did I miss anything here?

To be honest, even if Canada unilaterally dropped its tariffs against the US and the US didn't reciprocate, so what? Just because Trump is dumb enough to hurt US consumers doesn't mean Canada needs to act equally dumb so as to hurt Canadian consumers too. Let Trump do his thing, but Canada should focus on wise economic policy, not economic emotionalism.
 

taxslave

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I don't see where these tarrifs would hurt Canadians any. WE produce steel and aluminum in Canada.It should help Canadian workers if anything because there will be more demand for our products.
 

White_Unifier

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Feb 21, 2017
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I don't see where these tarrifs would hurt Canadians any. WE produce steel and aluminum in Canada.It should help Canadian workers if anything because there will be more demand for our products.

No wonder you're a tax slave! You don't recognize a tax when it slaps you in the face. Tariffs are taxes on consumers, aren't they?
 

Hoid

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you missed the part where Canadian steel (for instance) became more expensive for Americans to buy.

the countervailing tariffs make US steel the same price as Canadian steel therefore evening the playing again.

without the countervailing tariff everyone would just buy the cheaper us steel.

this is purely a cash exchange that will have no bearing on the actual market realities of steel or other metals.
 

Twin_Moose

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https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ont-us-tariffs-1.5004736
Let me get this straight. The US raised tariffs against Canada and so essentially shot itself in the foot in the process. Well, we can't have that, so Canada retaliated by raising retaliatory tariffs and so essentially shot itself in the foot in retaliation.
Ontario and Quebec are now asking Ottawa to stop shooting Canada in the foot and Ottawa says it refuses to do that since to do so would equal surrendering to the US.
Did I miss anything here?
To be honest, even if Canada unilaterally dropped its tariffs against the US and the US didn't reciprocate, so what? Just because Trump is dumb enough to hurt US consumers doesn't mean Canada needs to act equally dumb so as to hurt Canadian consumers too. Let Trump do his thing, but Canada should focus on wise economic policy, not economic emotionalism.

You missed a lot sorry to inform you see below where I have to reteach Hoid.

you missed the part where Canadian steel (for instance) became more expensive for Americans to buy.
the countervailing tariffs make US steel the same price as Canadian steel therefore evening the playing again.
without the countervailing tariff everyone would just buy the cheaper us steel.
this is purely a cash exchange that will have no bearing on the actual market realities of steel or other metals.

You got it exactly backwards The tariffs are paid to the US treasury to make our steel cost as much or a little more than US steel. Hoid our steel and aluminum is cheaper to buy than US produced steel and aluminum Trump is trying to stimulate the economy by making domestic steel as attractive as foreign steel. By putting more people to work and putting money in their pockets spreads the wealth more than putting the money into the pockets of brokers that keeps the work in Canada (or whatever country is under tariffs)

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I know you still won't understand, hang in there you will get it one of these days Lol
 

Hoid

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The tariffs were imposed to make Canadian products more expensive than American products.

You seem to get that.
 

Twin_Moose

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you missed the part where Canadian steel (for instance) became more expensive for Americans to buy.
the countervailing tariffs make US steel the same price as Canadian steel therefore evening the playing again.
without the countervailing tariff everyone would just buy the cheaper us steel.
this is purely a cash exchange that will have no bearing on the actual market realities of steel or other metals.
The tariffs were imposed to make Canadian products more expensive than American products.
You seem to get that.

I think it is you that is starting to catch on, possibly? Lol
 

taxslave

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No wonder you're a tax slave! You don't recognize a tax when it slaps you in the face. Tariffs are taxes on consumers, aren't they?
Yes and no. This one is a bit more complicated than that because certain Canadian suppliers were importing cheap China steel and then exporting it to the US as made in Canada. No tarrifs only works when the two countries have the same standard of living and environmental laws. SO by exporting manufacturing jobs you also destroy the market since a good portion of the workforce no longer has any purchacing power. The only winners in all this are government employees who are protected from economic realities.
 

White_Unifier

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Feb 21, 2017
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Yes and no. This one is a bit more complicated than that because certain Canadian suppliers were importing cheap China steel and then exporting it to the US as made in Canada. No tarrifs only works when the two countries have the same standard of living and environmental laws. SO by exporting manufacturing jobs you also destroy the market since a good portion of the workforce no longer has any purchacing power. The only winners in all this are government employees who are protected from economic realities.

Let's just call it a special-interest tax. I don't oppose taxes per se, but I'd prefer them to be more rational. A tariff stands among the worst taxes a government can impose on an economy since it deters economies of scale and specialization among other things.
 

Twin_Moose

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On the most part it is actually protecting the local economy, what you want is to save money at the expense of the local economy.

What do/did you do for a living so it can be explained better for you?
 

White_Unifier

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On the most part it is actually protecting the local economy, what you want is to save money at the expense of the local economy.
What do/did you do for a living so it can be explained better for you?

I've moved around for work; so I guess that doesn't make me particularly sympathetic to laws that try to freeze an economy in a time warp. If the local area doesn't have the necessary resources, then move on.
 

Twin_Moose

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Doing what? so I can relate it to your trade, remember there are 2 reasons products are cheaper 1) cheaper labour rates 2) cheaper materials used to produce the product.
 

White_Unifier

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Feb 21, 2017
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Doing what? so I can relate it to your trade, remember there are 2 reasons products are cheaper 1) cheaper labour rates 2) cheaper materials used to produce the product.

I've done translation, interpretation, and bilingual travel planning. At present, I'm doing the latter. I've also worked abroad and in Canada. Tariffs raise my cost of living, which in turn can affect my decision to buy or not, or even whether or not to work in Canada. Granted many factors play a role in this and so my cost of living would need to increase significantly enough before I'd consider moving abroad again, either that or I would need another compelling reason to do so. But it's still a factor I take into account. To take an example, I earned less in Montreal than in Toronto, and yet I actually got further ahead due to the cost of living. That's why cost of living is actually more imporant than wages.
 

Twin_Moose

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That actually explains a lot thanks, let's look at your latter what do you think of Expedia, Travelocity, etc. they are your competition right?
 

White_Unifier

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That actually explains a lot thanks, let's look at your latter what do you think of Expedia, Travelocity, etc. they are your competition right?

Not entirely. We work on a corporate contract, they focus more on the general public. But I concede that they are our competitors to a degree. Then again, we actually sometimes collaborate with them too.
 

White_Unifier

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They make you work twice as hard to make sales for a cut rate to be competitive correct?

Yes we need to compete, but I'd never ask for the state to block Expedia or travelocity because we can't compete. If we couldn't compete, I'd apply for EI and look for new work. I don't want to punish the consumer. You see how that works?