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. 

Trump Levies Tariffs which Trudeau says is "dumb"

Trump did not mention Canada as the "51st state" tonight

There are confusing signals coming from the Trump administration about the 25 percent tariffs levied on Canada and Mexico this morning.

Before the US President Trump addressed Congress, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick suggested there could be a reduction on the tariffs if something is worked out -- as early as tomorrow.

Seriously? Why did we have to go through all of this now then? Will Trump say that Canada and Mexico have complied to his wishes on how they have dealt with the fentanyl crisis and so tariffs will be decreased?

Trudeau described Trump's move as "dumb"

However, when Trump made his record-long speech this evening, he did not mention walking back on his tariff threat at all, though he did not reference Canada as the 51st state.

It might be because Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau gave a strong speech this morning and spoke directly to "one specific American":

"Donald, in the over eight years you and I have worked together, we've done big things. We signed a historic deal that has created record jobs and growth in both of our countries.

"We've done big things together on the world stage, as Canada and the US have done together for decades, for generations.

"And now we should be working together to ensure even greater prosperity for North Americans in a very uncertain and challenging world.

"Now, it's not in my habit to agree with the Wall Street Journal, but Donald, they point out that even though you're a very smart guy, this is a very dumb thing to do."

Canadians are united in buying Canadian goods

Did that bruise someone's super inflated ego?

Trump only mentioned Canada four times, and nothing about annexing it or about Trudeau being a "governor". He did threaten Greenland though, and promised to take back the Panama Canal.

In fact Hong Kong's CK Hutchison, whose Hutchison Port Group owns a 90 percent stake of two Panama ports is looking to offload it, by selling an 80 percent stake in Hutchison Port Group in a bid to assuage Trump's ire.

It's a surprise announcement, but perhaps CK Hutchison's senior advisor Li Ka-shing doesn't want the attention...

But back to Canada. In his speech, Trudeau suggested Trump is trying to weaken Canada's economy so much that he can overtake it, and Trudeau's theory is probably correct.

While tariffs is Trump's favourite word, he seems to have no clue how this will impact not only Canada's economy, but the American one too.

A lot of crude oil, electricity, lumber, cars, and fertilizer goes to the US. Even fuel for military jets come from Canada. 

The geopolitical order has been turned upside down and now everyone else has to chart a new way forward. Canada needs to break down inter-provincial barriers as soon as possible to stimulate the domestic economy and look elsewhere for new markets, which Trudeau already began doing in London and Paris.

The United States is not the leader of the free world anymore. Trump would rather align with authoritarian leader Vladimir Putin. 

Perhaps some American states would like to join Canada instead?

Trump Continues his Rant on Canada

Trump gave a virtual speech complaining about Canada

US President Donald Trump took his tirade against Canada to the international stage when he gave a virtual rambling speech at the Davos economic forum in Switzerland.

People in attendance audibly gasped as he continued to complain about his northern neighbour, saying there was a US$200-$250 billion trade deficit.

"We're not going to have that anymore. We can't do it," he said. "As you probably know, I say, 'You can always become a state, and if you're a state, we won't have a deficit. We won't have to tariff you," he said alluding to the 25 percent tax he is threatening on Canadian goods and services.

But according to the US government's Bureau of Economic Analysis, the trade deficit is more like US$40.6 billion, a massive exaggeration.

CNN explains the deficit is caused by the US importing large amounts of inexpensive Canadian crude oil, which the US then refines and helps keep its gas prices low. It has been pointed out that Trump picked a bad time to complain about oil prices during winter, when places like Texas and Louisiana are experiencing their worst winter storm in 120 years.

However, Trump claimed Canada was difficult to deal with and repeated his complaint about not needing the country's products: "We don't need them to make our cars, and they make a lot of them. We don't need their lumber because we have our own forests. We don't need their oil and gas."

Trump doesn't seem to be aware that the US imported 3.9 million barrels of crude oil from Canada per day in 2023, and is in high demand by refineries, particularly in the Midwest.

"If [hypothetically] Canadian oil were not available, many US refineries would struggle to find heavy crude elsewhere, and they might even stop operating in such a scenario. Historically, Venezuela had been a large producer of heavy crude, but Venezuela's oil industry is a shadow of its former self," said Pavel Molchanov, an energy expert who is an investment strategy analyst at Raymond James to CNN.

"So in fact, importing Canadian oil helps protect jobs in the US refining industry. Furthermore, US refining companies appreciate the fact that Canadian heavy crude is cheaper than the light sweet crude that is produced in Texas and Louisiana."

But Trump was not finished with Canada or the rest of the NATO countries. He is demanding they all increase their military spending to 5 percent of their GDP. The US is at 3.4 percent. 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hit back in Ottawa, saying Canada has almost tripled its defence budget and promised to get to NATO's current target of 2 percent, though it make take a few years to reach that.

Although Trump is taunting Canada about becoming the 51st state, polls in the US show this idea is very unpopular with Americans. In a recent Wall Street Journal survey, 58 percent of respondents strongly opposed it, while 11 percent were in favour. 

HK Journalist Sacked for Advocating Press Freedom

Journalist Cheng suddenly became the story when she was fired

The voices of international press groups are increasing in volume in condemning The Wall Street Journal for sacking Selina Cheng after she was voted as the new chair of the Hong Kong Journalists Association.

Groups such as the Asian chapter of the Asian American Journalists Association, Reporters Without Borders, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, the Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents' Club, Canada-based Media Action Plan and Women Press Freedom voiced their support for Cheng, that journalists should be allowed to advocate for press freedom.

"Journalists must be able to join and lead press organisations that are committed to defending media freedom without facing intimidation or retaliation," said the AAJA in a statement shared on social media.

Cheng read out her statement on Wednesday

"As pressure grows against foreign and domestic media in #HongKong, the need for international support to independent journalists still working in the territory is more important than ever," said Reporters Without Borders on X, formerly Twitter.

Cheng told reporters she was sacked on Wednesday after a senior editor flew in from the UK to tell her in person that her job had been eliminated due to restructuring. But she believed the real reason was related to her supervisor's request three weeks ago for her to withdraw from the election for the chair of the HKJA, a trade union for journalists that advocates for press freedom.

She said in a statement that her supervisor asked her to quit the association's board, which she has served since 2021. After she refused, she was told "it will be incompatible" with her job.

"The editor said employees of the Journal should not be seen as advocating for press freedom in a place like Hong Kong, even though they can in Western countries, where it is already established," said Cheng, who was elected the new chair in June.

"I am disappointed if these editors abroad have come to think press freedom is a controversial issue, as those who wish to intimidate reporters might like us to believe," she said. "It is not."

WSJ is still supporting Evan Gershkovich

While Dow Jones, which publishes the Journal confirmed restructuring had taken place, it claimed to still advocate for press freedom in Hong Kong and around the world.

Cheng pointed out the company was still pushing for the release of one of her colleagues, Evan Gershkovich, who has been detained for over a year in Russia accused of spying for the CIA.

"This is why I am deeply shocked that senior editors at the paper would actively violate their employees' human rights, by preventing them from advocating for freedoms the Journal's reporters rely on to work, in a place where journalists and their rights are under threat," wrote Cheng.

Indeed -- why this double standard? And why is WSJ and Dow Jones aiding the government's agenda of shutting down voices of opposition and dissent? It just puts not only the WSJ but also Hong Kong journalists in general in an even weaker position. 

What a bizarre way to start her new position -- being fired days later by her day job, but Cheng has already shown her courage and determination to fight. If anything she makes her former employer look like a coward.