There aren’t a lot of cases in economic history of anyone ultimately winning a trade war they started. It’s typically the countries that don’t engage that, over time, end up doing better than the belligerents. With the United States and Canada having failed to make a deal, who is really going to win here?
My guess is that the biggest winners in a Canadian-US trade war are probably Mexico, Europe, and China. How did we get here when, according to last week’s Morning Dump, the two countries were so close? A little disagreement over a very large truck.
Chinese automakers have their own issues with large vehicles, which is to say that even their mid-sized vehicles are super heavy due to battery weight. The country’s cars are going to have to go on a diet. Volkswagen is also undergoing a big transformation, though it looks like it’ll be shedding more jobs than pounds.
Americans continue to be delinquent on auto loans at a super high rate, yet lending is easing up. What’s going on there?
Canadian Parts Association Alleges The US Is Trying To ‘Get Rid Of Auto Manufacturing In Canada’
As of Thursday, it seemed as though the United States and Canada had a trade deal all but complete. That’s what the American side said, at least; the Canadians were a bit more circumspect.
Let me just check Truth Social to see what kind of normal things the President is saying about the deal:
Canada has been ripping off the United States of America for years. Their ridiculously high tariffs on our Farmers and farm products has made life impossible for these great American Patriots, and has long created a 60 Billion Dollar Deficit between our two Countries. Not sustainable, and NOT ANYMORE! On January First, 2027, Tariffs on all Cars, Trucks, both large and small, Automotive Parts, and Steel, will be increased to 50%. Build in the U.S. and there are ZERO TARIFFS. Canada will be treated like a State no longer! On Trade, and in other ways, also, they are among the worst Nations in the World to deal with. They feel entitled, and yet, WE DON’T NEED CANADA, THEY NEED US! They do 95% of their business with the U.S., with us, the exact opposite! Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP
That’s not great. I don’t want to get too deep into responding to everything the President says, because this President says a lot of things and often they are not true. I would like to address the 95%/5% thing, because, as the economists at TD Bank point out, the US is a major consumer of Canadian petroleum products, but also a large exporter of goods to Canada, which clouds the concept of a trade deficit:
Last year, Canadian exports of energy products (oil, natural gas, power) to the U.S amounted to nearly $170 billion, or almost 1/3 of total shipments. In contrast, energy accounted for only 6% of all U.S. imports. Put simply, Canadian sources are critical to U.S. energy security. Remove Canadian energy exports from the equation and the trade story flips. Ex-energy, the U.S. enjoys a trade surplus with Canada of around C$60 (US$45 billion).
When looked at through the lens of automotive production, Canadians are relatively small producers of cars, yet large consumers for US-built automobiles (which, due to aligned safety standards, can’t be sold a lot of other places). Before the trade war started, Canada produced 14 models and consumed 325. Looking at final assembly, Canadian production accounts for less than 10% of cars sold in the United States, whereas Mexico is historically double that number.
The US economy is many times larger than the Canadian economy, so it’s true that the US market is more pivotal to the Canadian one than vice versa, but there’s still a ton of trade that US businesses rely on that’ll be impacted by tariffs. According to the Office of the United States Trade Representative, the trade of goods between the two countries was fairly close last year:
U.S. goods trade (exports plus imports) with Canada totaled an estimated $715.5 billion in 2025. U.S. goods exports to Canada in 2025 were $333.6 billion, down 4.8 percent ($17.0 billion) from 2024. U.S. goods imports from Canada totaled $381.9 billion in 2025, down 7.2 percent ($29.8 billion) from 2024.
During the first Trump presidency, the three largest countries that make up North America further linked their automotive production, which makes the automotive industries highly reliant on one another.
So what happened? According to this Bloomberg report, representatives for the US and Canada disagreed at the last minute over whether or not the lowering of tariffs from 25% to 15% would extend to medium- and heavy-duty vehicles. Specifically, Canadian representatives wanted to make sure the F-350, which is built at the Oakville, Ontario plant, wouldn’t be subject to tariffs.
The Americans said this was a last-minute request from the Canadians, the Canadians say the exclusion of medium- and heavy-duty trucks was something the Americans decided to change without notice. I wasn’t there, so I’m not sure what happened, but someone quoted by Bloomberg thinks they know:
“At the last minute, the Americans pulled that classification out of the class of product that would get a reduced tariff,” Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. Saturday, referring to super-duty pickup trucks such as the Ford F-350s.
Volpe suggested the impetus may have been to “get rid of auto manufacturing in Canada.”
That sounds like a wild theory until you remember President Trump has frequently said he doesn’t see the need for Canadian cars.
So what happens next? It’s always hard to predict with this administration, but it sounds like the Canadian government is going to wait out the midterm elections to see if they have more leverage for a deal. In the interim, any hope of having Canada and Mexico team up to help combat China’s growing influence seems to have gone out the window. Canada already opened the door to warmer relations with China, which feels more logical at this point.
Chinese Cars Have To Get Lighter
While Chinese EVs have taken over the globe, the huge advantage automakers in that country have enjoyed are derived in large part from a robust supply chain and cheap labor, as opposed to a purely technological advantage. Specifically, Chinese EVs tend to run a little heavy.
S&P Global Mobility predicts the Chinese industry is going to follow other industries in trying to find ways to make its cars lighter:
The added vehicle mass has created challenges related to energy efficiency, material utilization and the long-term funding of road infrastructure maintenance. As a result, industry experts and policymakers in mainland China have increasingly discussed reforms to vehicle taxation and road-use charging mechanisms, including approaches linked to vehicle mass, to encourage more sustainable vehicle development.
Against this backdrop, mainland Chinese automakers are pursuing vehicle lightweighting strategies to improve efficiency. These efforts range from increasing the use of lightweight materials such as aluminum and magnesium to incorporating advanced high-strength steels in place of conventional steel when feasible. They are also redesigning vehicle architectures to eliminate unnecessary structures and integrate multiple functions into single components, giving rise to a multimaterial, highly integrated BIW strategy.
Taxing vehicles by weight would be a quick way to encourage automakers to Zepbound their production.
The Next Few Weeks Are ‘Crucial’
I gave space on Friday for the head of VW’s main union to say that Volkswagen’s management is reportedly in ‘cloud-cuckoo-land‘ due to its margin forecasts. I’ll give some room for CEO Oliver Blume to, via Bild, explain why the company has to change:
In an interview on the company intranet, Blume prepared employees for bad news: “The situation is more than critical.” While the company is capable of acting, it also has an urgent need for action, Blume said. He told BILD: “The next few weeks are crucial: everyone has to pull together. We have launched the biggest transformation plan in the history of the Volkswagen Group.” The Group’s 2030 vision is “a comprehensive, global program for products, technologies, competitiveness, structures, and growth. The next few years will determine who stays in the race and who takes the lead.”
And further: “The global automotive industry is in a mega-crisis. And the Volkswagen Group is right in the middle of it. Geopolitics, trade barriers, regulations, weak markets and fierce competition are challenging everyone.” Now it’s time to roll up our sleeves: “For the people, our company and the competitiveness of Germany as a business location.”
It’s going to be an epic fight between a management that sees huge challenges and a workforce tired of management screwing up and relying on cutbacks to balance the books.
Lenders Seem To Care Less About Auto Delinquencies
With loans extending out towards the horizon and everything getting more expensive, the increase in automotive delinquencies feels like the natural result. What’s less natural is how lenders are shrugging them off. The rate of serious delinquencies (more than 90 days) was at 5.5% in Q2, the second highest level since the Federal Reserve Bank of New York started tracking that figure (the highest was Q1 of this year).
Lending, though, seems to be expanding. What’s going on here?
Lenders’ willingness to extend credit during a time when more debt is late on payments seems paradoxical. But “there’s nothing in the data that says lenders are being reckless,” said Jonathan Gregory, senior director of economic and industry insights for Cox Automotive.
The abundance of auto credit in the face of high delinquencies could stem from the fact borrowers do eventually pay the bill, Gregory said.
Default rates haven’t tracked delinquencies as closely as they did before the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.
“More borrowers are behind on their payments, but then fewer are actually defaulting,” Gregory said. “That’s just a gap that we’re keeping our eye on.”
As I’ve said before, all this is fine until it’s not. If the economy stays strong enough, then we’ll all survive. If the global economy hits a snag, well, it’ll probably be terrible.
What I’m Listening To While Writing TMD
My daughter is learning to play the electric bass, and my dad suggested I play her “Tighten Up” by Archie Bell & The Drells. It does have a great, driving bass note. If I ever end up making my Houston movie, this is the opening song, for sure.
The Big Question
How much does your car weigh? Is it heavy? Is it light?
Top photo: Ford
TBQ:
’03 Ford F150 Supercrew – 4,686 lb. or 38,647 Original Slim Jim “Meat” Sticks
’14 Porsche Panamera 4 – 4,012 lb. or 20,060 Bavarian soft pretzels
’24 Fiat 500e – 2,952 lb. or 37 wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
’14 Brammo Empulse R – 469 lb. or 2.09 Honda Groms
Well played.
My Golf is right about 350 henweigh.
’07 Mazda 2 – 2315 lb or 3087 servings of okonomiyaki
Chevy Blazer EV ~5300lbs, very close to a damn Chevy Tahoe at ~5600lbs
THICC
4K lbs and loaded with gear.
jeep wrangler.
not light.
Wow, Matt! Way to piss off 20 countries in eight words!
From a quick Google:
“North America has 23 independent countries. This total includes the large nations on the mainland, the countries of Central America, and the island nations of the Caribbean.”
Oops, forgot to write “largest.” Thank you!
When did this change? I was always taught that Central America is separate. Hell, it’s right in the name! North, Central and South America where North America is only Canada, US and Mexico.
Interestingly, at work most businesses that have “North America” support are only referring to Canada and US. Mexico is often it’s own thing or part of Central/Latin America due to the differences in how each does business.
This is my professional experience as well
A “Latin America” divide is confusing to me as it lumps Germanic speaking countries like Curacao, Guyana, Jamaica, etc.. or French (Haiti, and French Guiana) into it.
North America, as a continent, typically stops somewhere between Panama and Columbia – with the Caribbean island countries (incl. Aruba, Curacao, Bonaire) being all, traditionally, as part of North America.
Anytime I see a someone making claims about “Central America”, it’s woefully inconsistent where Mexico gets allocated (or if). Guys, it’s a country of >120M people, it’s really hard to miss.
North America is one of the 7 continents. Central America is a region of North America, not its own continent. This has always been the case.
Use of “Central America” to differentiate from the big 3 is basically just a way for US companies and politicians to ignore the “banana republics.”
There is no universally agreed number of continents. In the USA and most other english speaking countries there a 7. Other places teach 4, 5, or 6. Some group North and South America into just America. Others combine Europe and Asia.
I’m guessing none of those other places subdivide Central America from North America, so my point still stands.
As a kid, I always though separating Europe from Asia as two distinct continents didn’t make sense, so I have no issue with teaching 6 continents with Eurasia. But calling North and South America one continent due to a relatively tiny land bridge between the two? And I assume the the 4 continent conspiracy theorists consider Africa a part of Eurasia for the same reason?
Both the combining of the Americas and Europe / Asia / Africa is based on the connection that allowed terrestrial animals to migrate between them. While the connection is small today the were much larger during the last glacial period when sea levels were 100 to 120 meters lower and massive glaciers pushed animals towards the equator.
Roughly 3 million years ago there was a large intermixing of animals in the Americas.
I’m no expert on the history of Canadian auto manufacturing, but from what I gather (after WWII) a vast majority of the cars built in Canada were built by Canadian subsidiaries of American car companies.
Canada has a relatively small number of vehicle sales, and while some of the Canadian-built cars were for the Canadian Domestic Market, I think the majority of Canadian-built cars crossed over into the US, So I think it was an example of American manufacturing being sent “overseas” for cheaper production costs. Make of that what you will.
And US-made vehicles made their way into Canada.
I’m not sure what you’re arguing, but it looks like a strawman written as a dogwhistle.
There was something called the Autopact. What it said was American firms could sell as many cars in Canada as they built in Canada. They didn’t have to be the same models. That let the Big 3 setup efficient factories that only produced 1 or 2 models and shipped them across Canada and the US. Canada got access to all of the vehicles that were produced across the US without any protectionist fall-out.
It worked well and was a boon to both countries.
Canada has also historically sent south MASS quantities of raw materials.
So to “fix” the trade deficit “problem” with Canada, the Canucks just need to export oil to Asia instead of the US, and that’ll create a trade surplus for the US? I’m sure the midwest will really enjoy their fuel prices going through the roof if that happens. Sounds like all winning to me.
Thing is we’re all so tired of this winning. I’d like to try losing after November? Did I just jinx something?
This administration is also only focused on physical goods and ignores services like software, insurance, and banking
Those were not big in the 30’s through 50’s which is were Trump seems to get his ideas on economics such as they are.
More accurately, Trump gets his ideas from the 30’s up through the end of April of ’45.
Mazda MX-5 Miata NC2 Grand Touring PRHT 6MT – 2,593 pounds
Toyota Prius PHEV XSE Premium – 3,571 pounds
*Above numbers per Mr. Google
I like that my personal fleet is just Data’s Fleet Lite.
Mazda MX-5 Miata NA 5MT – 2,200 pounds
Toyota Prius Gen 2 – 3,200 pounds
2022 Crosstrek Sport, 3,265 lbs
1990 325is, 2,845 lbs
The Crosstrek actually feels pretty light on it’s feet for what it is.
Archie Bell was drafted into the Army shortly after recording Tighten Up and was in Viet Nam when the single hit the charts.
Wasn’t the decision to build some Super Duties in Canada the result of tariff nonsense in the first place?
Given that poorly-motivated reality, I can squint and see the justification. The exact same vehicle is built in Kentucky as well. Canadian production undercutting American for an identical vehicle would in fact be unfortunate. Of course, without an ill-advised trade war with allies in the first place, the entire situation would have been avoided.
They’re also built in Ohio, I used to work at KTP and we built ship out body parts for OHAP. In my eyes the move to build them in Canada was to hedge the bet on Super Duty after the last UAW contract negotiations in 2023 had production stopped for 2 weeks on a strike.
Interesting, did not know that.
As Sackofcheese said, it was based on the UAW’s decision to start their strike in 2023 by shutting down F-Series production. At the time Ford was the only one of the Detroit 3 that didn’t have a truck plant in the Canada or Mexico so the strike shut down all their truck production.
Ford said they would increase vehicle production outside of the USA as a result of the 2023 strike.
FWIW It didn’t shut down all F-series production, only Super Duties (as well as all Expedition/Navigator) from KTP. OHAP was still building Super Duties, us salaried folks were making the ship out parts they needed from KTP for those two weeks. Plus, F150 Production in Dearborn and KC kept on rolling.
Sheepishly I gotta ask about the Houston movie – I haven’t been playing close enough attention. What’s it going to be about?
While Tighten Up is a great choice for an opening song, I’ve always wanted Houston, the Action Town by Juke Boy Bonner to be front and center
That’s a great choice, too! The idea is just in my head, but it’s a sort of update of Two Gentlemen of Verona set in modern day Houston.
It’s none of my business and you and your dad do what you’ve got to, but as a bass player, I’d be wary of recommending this song to a newbie. The line is extremely difficult to play “right,” as it’s simultaneously precise but so loose that it sounds “wrong” all the way through, even in the upper register, but ESPECIALLY while soloed in the intro, whether it’s finger-style or picked.
Something this intricate can be frustrating to tackle for anybody (myself included), but I’d be afraid it would derail a new player (and even more so if they aren’t already devotees of the song or the genre).
(That said, I don’t have a go-to song or artist for funk students, so I’m kind of pointing out a problem without offering a solution.)
Just my two cents. Good luck encouraging your musician!
Hah, just to clarify, it wasn’t a song to learn how to play, just a song where you can easily hear the bass line!
Here is a bunch of songs with decent bass to practice to.
My Generation The Who
Roundabout Yes
Gorillaz Feel Good Inc
Led Zeppelin Ramble On
Beach Boys Good Vibrations
Jane’s Addiction Mountain Song
Joe Jackson Is She Really Going Out with Him
I’m far from a decent bass player, but these are listenable and can be challenging.
18 Honda Accord 1308 kg
Trump and his collection of liars grifters and scum can’t die off fast enough for me.
You’ve got to find a way to include Houston El Mover by Joe “King” Carrasco and The Crowns on the soundtrack. Oh, and 3,098 lbs for my Mazda 3 hatchback
Perhaps East Houston Blues by Rodney Crowell can be playing when the outlaws are introduced, or when Valentine talks up his roguishness.
Taxing vehicles based on weight (and thus proportional to the damage they do to roads) is too sensical to ever be used in the US. Love paying more in tax on a 400lb electric motorcycle than an F350.
Road wear scales with the fourth power of vehicle weight. Both a motorcycle and an F350 are rounding errors compared to heavy trucks and semis.
And GCWR has been one of trucking’s biggest barriers to electrification.
Every pound of weight you add to the truck or trailer, is a pound of cargo you can’t haul.
There are exemptions here and there making it worse (by allowing more weight if electrified), but Semis are definitely tearing up the roads the most in general.
Well, that and Altimas driving on bare steel wheels.
Electric Class 8 trucks are allowed a higher GCWR and many loads run of of volume long before they max out GCWR.
The thing holding back MD and HD BEV sales is price.
That varies wildly by shipper.
If you’re shipping chips or pillows, then you’ll cube out before you weigh out.
However, a LOT of things we buy are heavy in bulk. And overweight is a constant problem.
Range is also a problem if you don’t run a dedicated local fleet.
Source: family has owned and ran a trucking company since the 70s.
Dedicated local routes and drayage are the only usage that makes sense for a BEV Class 8. BEV’s are allowed and extra 2,000 pounds GVWR which helps cover the extra 2,000 to 4,000 lb weight for the electric. However, none of that matters when the electric is 3x the cost of the diesel.
Source: I spent today running the first 2027 spec diesel truck down the line of the factory we converted to build electric trucks in 2023.
The truck will now be renamed the FU-350
TBQ: the Jaaag weighs about 3900lb. It has only a 2.0-liter turbo engine but it gets down the road remarkably well.
Don’t be disingenuous, Matt. Ford didn’t derail negotiations.
Agreed.
It’s been well documented that Lutnik and his negotiating delegates were not in synch about how to proceed the entire time. No, Canada did not pull a last-minute ask regarding trucks – Americans did. Meanwhile Americans made ludicrous asks regarding Canadians speaking and conducting business in French, and their ability to do deals with 3rd party countries
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/08/22/us-canada-trade-deal-01046788
This is an all-American fuckup – Canadians had simply had enough of the stupidity.
Now we’re threatened with Canadians turning off the electricity, and our lumber prices will go up due to increased costs of Canadian timber, which consists of about 1/4 of our supply which which we build houses.
Someday, Americans will realize that the US needs Canada far more than Canada needs the US.
Well, heaven forbid a trade agreement be mutually benefical…. This simply will not do. Must project strength and WINN!!
The conceptual requirement to have a clear “winner” and “loser” in everything really does screw up a lot of things. Shame that one particular person sees that as the ultimate goal.
Let’s call this what it truly is…
As in pissing on a friend’s foot and saying it’s raining.
The big turd is never happy unless he is spewing lies, and fucking over everyone else.
Except his damn despot friends.
Concern over the Ford F-350 absolutely did. That’s not blaming Ford.
No, the claim that US wanted to directly control, with veto, both Canadian foreign relations (other trade agreements), and internal Canadian relations (such as language) detailed things.
And in that context, the F350 isn’t even worthy of a footnote. Being intentionally capricious by applying unilateral tariffs on items which qualify under USMCA free-trade would be the footnote.
I’m pretty sure Spikedlemon and I are referring to Doug Ford, the guy who, as I understand it, was coordinating negotiations on behalf of Canada – Not FoMoCo.
This is what happens when you have an Economist (Carney) as a leader of a country, whose team (Doug Ford – love him or hate him, does not take fools lightly) was negotiating tariffs with the team lead by a Failed Nepo-Real Estate guy and a guy who sued his mentor’s wife into control of the company which enriched him, and cut off salaried for the people who died at their desks before what little remained of their bodies could be buried by their families.
Doug Ford, premier of Ontario, is not part of the federal government’s negotiation team. Quite the contrary actually, as he was asked to pipe down and let the actual team do the negotiating, with some of his public remarks an apparent thorn in the then-ongoing trade talks (but very beneficial politically on a local level, as what he said was true..)
Every reference to him should say Doug Ford or Premier Ford or something like that, *especially* in articles directly involving the blue oval.
Ford absolutely does NOT want the tarriffs – if for no other reason than the extensive aluminium production in Quebec in particular. They got burned badly this year with near single source US supply.
The whole thing is ridiculous –
It’s not like it’s the Canuck Motor Company, selling Poutine sedans and Beavertail wagons, which fairly or unfairly undercut their US competition.
It’s literally a US product which is produced in Canada at the direction of a US company.
And telling Canada that they can’t have trade deals with other countries unless we say so, and they can’t do it in French – like they’re a vassal state?
It’s insulting.
The two economies are; and have been, fully intertwined for 70+ years. This is maybe the least logical trade dispute in history.
Indeed. Québec has 8 of Canada’s 9 aluminium plants, while the entire US has 4, and if I’m not mistaken, the biggest plant in Québec produces more than those 4 combined…
It obviously comes as no surprise that the Enraged Tangerine doesn’t understand basic economics (*cough* tariffs *cough*), but particularly in regard to aluminium, it just doesn’t make sense for the US government to take the stance they have. Aluminium production is extremely energy intensive and Quebec is able to provide clean hydro power, at a massive scale, and at a cheap discounted rate to boot! It just doesn’t make sense economically to build plants in the US, and that was before crypto, data centers and AI were in the news…
This all stuff I know from 37 years in the business. Quebec may be be the most energy efficient aluminium producer in the world. Conversely, Canada is NOT building any oil refinerys on near the scale of the Gulf Coast. Steel is made where energy, water, and raw material meet. A new car factory I’m guessing is 6 years from drawing to doors open. That’s more than an administration.
A new car factory takes about 3 years. That still takes is past this administration’s expiration date.
Yes they do–see the Transit Connect, for example.
Even after trying to cheat the tariff and getting busted and having to pay, they *still* support the chicken tax LOL
No sympathy for them at ALL
TBQ: My old car (RIP) was 2700lbs.
The car I drive “daily” is a hybrid and weighs 3100lbs
My wife’s car is an EV and weighs 4300lbs.
I believe my Geo Tracker weighs in around 2400 lbs, which is impressively light for a BOF SUV!
Further proving it to be the perfect vehicle.
lighter than the Miata of the time!
Woah, that’d be crazy! However, my research is showing a ’95 Miata as weighing 2,210 lb, while my Tracker would be 2,365. I hope I’m wrong, though!
Is yours a 2-door or 4-door? Hardtop or convertible? 2WD or 4WD?
The 2-door 2WD hardtops were lighter than the Miata, though the convertible and the 4-door could weigh more
Mine’s a 2-door convertible 4×4, which is apparently 2 pounds lighter than the hardtop, and 69 pounds lighter than the 4-door hardtop. I’m sure the 2WD one is lighter, though I’m not sure by how much
My RAV4 Prime has a curb weight of 4300 pounds. It’s a little lighter than the extended cab Silverado I used to have, but heavier than every other vehicle I have owned.
Well let’s see:
Polestar 2: ~4800 lbs (oh lord she coming)
FJ cruiser: ~4400lbs (that is stock it is on bigger tires now)
Firebird: ~3400 lbs (haven’t had it on a scale since all the changes to it so just guessing)
D250 cummins: ~5500lbs (though this is probably light compared to modern trucks of similar trim)
So yeah pretty much a fleet of pretty heavy vehicles hah.
My Compass weighs about 3,300 pounds…. which isn’t that bad per se, as it’s no 4,800-pound Charger, but still.
I’m totally excited* to live in the Hermit Kingdom of The United States
*excitement being more of the “holy-what-the fucking-fuck are we fucking doing here!” verity
“Democratic People’s Republic of America”
I don’t think Democratic will be part of the name
Got to maintain the pretense, like Best Korea does.
There is no pretense in The United States of GREAT America, Best America
Of course, one might be inclined to observe that the distance between where America seems to be headed and great is the real Gulf of America.
and Congo. And East Germany in the before times.
Leopards are feasting on faces.
At this stage it’s likely to be The United States of Donald Trumps’ America ™ so that every time you reference it you have to pay royalties in Trumpcoin directly to Glorious Leader.
I would rather eat my own dick.
Well, as commented by T Bird, have I got good news for you!
That shit will get overturned too, because USMCA
Shitty BHPH dealers say if they don’t repo 25% of their cars they’re missing out on business
USMCA has already been burned to the ground. They are now pissing on the ashes.
USMCA is still in effect for another 10 years. The renegotiation of what happens after that was supposed to start last month, but the current agreement is still in effect. We still can’t tariff anything that is USMCA-compliant.
So these tarriffs are toothless then?
The strategy is:
No, more Profit and control is always the end game.
I’d suggest it’s more likely, shits looking bad in the Straits, need a distraction for the news’s cycle, I’ve got an idea!
Also still avoiding the “Trump-Epstein Files”.
Basically yes. Ben summed it up nicely.
Legal battles take years. Trump is trying to bully Canada into signing a new deal that modifies USMCA.
So far he has seen some success with other countries using the same tactics. For example he signed trade deals with Japan and Korea in his first term then ripped them up at the start of the second. Both have signed new deals that put a base tariff of 15% on everything they ship to the USA. The UK agreed to a 10% base tariff.
How could you make an EV fire even more hellacious? Throw some magnesium parts onto it!
Lithium is already an oxidizer, what’s an extra oxidizer between friends?
Yeah – I love fireworks
All of my vehicles except my Sequioa are <3400 lbs.
Oh yeah – Fox bodies are refreshingly light by modern standards.
I chose 3400 lbs because that’s about what my LTD weighs (and it has all power accessories, A/C, etc.). My Fairmont is probaby <3000.
My Tesla be a porker. 4400 lbs of BEV. The similarly sized RAV4 parked next to it weighs 1000 lbs less. But the Model Y will blow the doors off the RAV4 in any dynamic contest, so it’s all muscle?
How do you negoitate in good faith with an adminstration that will readily bite off it’s own dick, eat it and then declare it a win?
This is what we get when we elect a brain addled somnabulist who has worm brained and roid-raging advisors.
I don’t mind that the Turd falls asleep constantly.
It’s that he keeps waking up that pisses me off…
COTD nomination
Seconded!!
It’s been difficult lately to come up with new hyperbole about the current sitch, but well done sir.
I wish I had chosen the word ‘victory’, but ‘win’ probably works better in context.
“Winning” is very on-brand language for this administration, so I think you nailed it.
So much winning. I can’t contain myself.
Which has lead China to the two-step plan to success:
Step 3 – Profit!!
They’re laughing all the way to the bank. Doesn’t matter if what they make is 70% as good as US made stuff they can sell it for 30% of what we can. And won’t come with any pesky trade restrictions (in exchange for spyware but we do that too).
I worked as an engineer in the US specialty metals industry for 27 years (’99 to ’16) Bottom line is that China, India, etc… can beat our costs every day on all regular grade commodity product. The value is in the value add; the high grade specialty product that (had been) the domain of the US, Canada, Germany…
The biggest issue is the raw materials. Titanium comes almost exclusively from Russia or its allies. China is swallowing the metals supply chain.
I got laid off in ’16 and switched sectors. Fortunately my specialty is defined and in demand.
Never interrupt your enemy when they’re making a mistake.
Sorry to be vulgar, but any thinking person sees this as absolute idiocy.