Trump Continues to Walk Back on Tariff Threat

A heated call between Trudeau and Trump with profanity 

When asked to describe his telephone conversation with US President Donald Trump, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau diplomatically said it was "colourful".

The Wall Street Journal reported the 50-minute call got heated and involved some profanity from Trump.

Tensions rose when the two leaders discussed dairy products, and later fentanyl. 

Trudeau insists on having all US tariffs removed

During the conversation, Trudeau stressed the US government's own border seizure data shows Canada is not much of a problem, and that the country is doing all it can to reduce the amount of drugs going across the border. 

Customs and Border Protection Data show in the fiscal year 2024, 43 pounds of fentanyl was seized at the northern border, compared to more than 21,000 pounds from Mexico in the same period.

Trump and Vice President JD Vance, who was also on the call, tried to push back on Trudeau's defence, saying seizures weren't the right way to measure the problem. Trudeau replied there's no other way to actually quantify the problem.

Maybe that's what got Trump annoyed?

He claimed on social media that the call "ended in a 'somewhat' friendly manner."

In the end Trump backed down -- temporarily -- by putting a pause on tariffs on Canadian exports that are "compliant" with the Canada-US-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) until April 2. 

Despite the reprieve, the Canadian government is not removing retaliatory tariffs it levied on US$30 billion worth of American imports.

No more American bourbon on liquor shelves

"Our goal is to get all tariffs removed," Trudeau said to reporters today.

"We are in a moment right now where Canada has a very, very strong bargaining position, because Canadians are so united and unequivocal about standing up for our country and standing up for our fellow citizens and being very firm that this is an unjustified and unjustifiable trade war launched by the Americans," he said.

For example, 80 percent of the potash American farmers use is from Canada, along with things like crude oil, electricity and aluminium.

Premiers of British Columbia and Ontario are going to impose their own tariffs too: BC's Premier David Eby said his government will levy fees on trucks traveling through the province up to Alaska, while Ontario Premier Doug Ford will slap a 25 percent levy on electricity that supplies power to 1.5 million Americans in Minnesota, New York and Michigan.

Many government-owned liquor stores have taken alcohol products from Republican states off shelves in a bid to get those places to appeal to Trump to back down; already bourbon producers in Kentucky are very worried as the state exported US$9.3 billion in products in 2024.

It's quite amazing how Trump forcefully imposed the tariffs, then has walked back so quickly -- perhaps from seeing the stock market tanking and losing confidence in him and the rollercoaster ride that never seems to end.

Canadians are united more than ever to get through this insanity, and Trump has pushed the country to rebuild its domestic economy to be stronger and less reliant on the US. 

National Pushback Against Musk

Great car, terrible association, Tesla owners regret buying

Word on the street is that Tesla drivers are regretting their purchase following CEO Elon Musk's carte blanche to dismantle several government departments in the name of efficiency.

Some are trying to get rid of their Teslas, or embarrassed to drive it, while others who bought their cars before Musk supported Donald Trump for president will continue driving the car, though they find it awkward being associated with the South African though their vehicle.

Meanwhile in Europe it's quite evident how they feel about Musk:

Trump gives Musk carte blanche to revamp US govt

According to MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, car sales are down in France by 6 percent, but when it comes to Teslas, sales are down by a whopping 63 percent. France is the second-biggest electric vehicle market in Europe, behind Germany, where sales of Teslas is down 59 percent.

It keeps going.

In Sweden it's down 44 percent, 38 percent in Norway, and 42 percent in the Netherlands. 

"Weird right? I wonder why that is?" Maddow muses to her audience.

She adds in the United States, polling has been done to gauge how Americans feel about Musk being involved in the government. YouGov took two polls, one right after the US election and another this week, two weeks after Trump took office.

In November,  47 percent of Republican voters want Musk to have "a lot" of influence in government; since the election it has plunged 21 points to only 26 percent of Republican voters wanting Musk to have "a lot" of influence in government.  

Protesters ready to stop Musk at Dept of Labor

"That has dropped like a stone in a very quick period of time," she quips.

When it comes to Democrats, only 6 percent want Musk to have "a lot" of influence, and the same percentage of independent voters. 

"He's polling at like tooth decay levels," Maddow says with a big smile. "That's like funny bone bumped into something sharp levels."

Meanwhile protests in all 50 states have erupted, protesting against Musk. One was in Maine where people occupied a Tesla charging station with signs that read: "Musk is a national security threat". 

At the Department of Labor in Washington DC, a hastily arranged protest drew lots of people to come and prevent Musk and his band of young hackers from entering the building. The protesters succeeded -- for now...