Friends, I'm not crazy about Trump's tariffs against Canada and Mexico, in themselves, but my guess is that they are part and parcel of a broad strategy to realign America's relationship with a host of international "partners" in a way that is more respectful of the interests and sovereignty of the USA. That I can live with, and in fact such an effort is long overdue. And that's the subject of my latest article:
Trump Drops the Hammer on America's Fair-Weather Friends
President Trump's shock and awe tactics against Democrats and the Deep State appear to be bearing fruit, but equally impressive has been his strong, unapologetic stance vis-à-vis other countries, allies and adversaries alike.
Setting the tone in a dramatic way, Trump wasted no time in responding to the refusal of Colombia's socialist president to receive a planeload of deportees. Trump threatened harsh, escalating tariffs as well as other sanctions and penalties, and the Colombian government caved almost instantly. Score one for Trump and Trumpism!
In the days and weeks ahead, a higher stakes battle will play out with the two countries that are, in many respects, our most important allies, neighbors, and trade partners: Canada and Mexico. Trump promised on the campaign trail to raise tariffs on a host of countries, including his bête noire: China. But why target seemingly harmless Canada and Mexico, specifically? He says it's because both are failing to control the flow of illegal migrants and fetanyl across our common borders. He also says that Canada and Mexico don't play fair in terms of trade, and thus they maintain large trade surpluses with the U.S. and drive American companies out of business.
Neither of these justifications is completely off-base, but the problem is that they are very different from one other, and Trump has set down no clear metrics for how Canada and Mexico (or any other country) can avoid tariffs. How much progress has to be made at the border before Trump will rescind his tariffs? How much must Canada and Mexico's trade surpluses be reduced before Trump's ire abates? Are these tariffs, fundamentally, retaliatory, or are they part of a protectionist philosophy that aims to revive American manufacturing, agriculture, and energy production? The answers to these questions, even for Trump's most wholehearted supporters, are obscure, but could this be intentional on Trump's part?
Many analysts believe that the purpose of these tariffs is not to restrict North American trade on a permanent basis, but to prove Trump's seriousness to the likes of Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau and Mexican President Sheinbaum. Trump may be angling for substantial concessions from Canada and Mexico, on border enforcement, trade policy, and other issues, that a more conventional American administration would never even dream of asking for. Whether these stiff tariffs would need to remain in place for a day, a week, a month, or a year in order to bring the necessary pressure to bear and make Canada and Mexico crack is hard to say, but the gravity with which these actions are viewed in Ottawa and Mexico City in undeniable. “Business as usual” is frankly no longer an option in North America, whether U.S., Canadian, and Mexican elites like it or not.
And this is why the long-term impact of Trump's international strength/intransigence (depending on your perspective) could be revolutionary: by bending our closest neighbors and erstwhile friends to our will, we will send a message to the entire world that no longer is the United States of America a nation to be trifled with. No longer will we subsidize the defense of half the world without expecting anything in return. No longer will we open up our own markets to all comers, while foreign governments and their corporate allies conspire to freeze out American products and seize control of whole industries. Certainly, no longer will the U.S. accept an unlimited number of migrants in the guise of “refugees” from the four corners of the earth.
Imagine, then, how much easier it will be for President Trump and Secretary of State Rubio to negotiate with China, and Europe, and Russia, and Iran, and North Korea, and countless other nations, friend and foe alike, when the new administration has proven its mettle in a miniature “trade war” with Canada and Mexico. Why, if they aren't already, the Panamanians and the Danes must be quaking in their boots!
The smart money says that the 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico aren't really about Canada and Mexico at all – they're about transplanting a spine into America itself, which, under President Biden, so conspicuously lacked one. Thanks to President Trump, the USA is no longer a nation to be taken for granted, derided, and abused. For the 77 million people who voted for Trump, all they can say is: “It's about time!”
Dr. Nicholas L. Waddy is an Associate Professor of History at SUNY Alfred and blogs at: www.waddyisright.com. He appears on the Newsmakers show on WLEA/WYSL.
And here it is at World Net Daily:
https://www.wnd.com/2025/02/trump-drops-the-hammer-on-americas-fair-weather-friends/
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In other news, there's an argument to be made that Trump's approach to Colombia, Canada, and Mexico is redolent of the consciously erratic and blustering negotiating style of President Nixon. In other words, Trump is in esteemed company!
The dastardly Dems are electing new leaders, and so far it's hard to read the tea leaves and ascertain what shape the Democratic Party is going to take in the next four years. "Attack Trump!" is the easy choice, and I'm sure the Dems will do plenty of that, but the evidence is that those relentless assaults based on TDS have proved counterproductive. What else have they got in their playbook? We shall see.
Vice-President Vance continues to hold out hope that the U.S. will end up in control of Greenland, as do I! The real question is why the U.S. didn't secure possession of Greenland decades ago, when the Cold War was raging and the Arctic was a key theater in our incipient conflict with the Soviets.
Dr. Waddy from Jack: I agree with what I see to be your conclusion in your essay above. In addition to making very obvious the new parameters within which the US will now closely consider foreign influences (eg. border management enabling, purposefully or not - and I do not think Canada does so, to the extent it may do so, with intent - invasion of the US by substantial or personal threats); in addition to that, DJT is demonstrating to the world that such lax enforcement inevitably triggers a decisive popular reaction in the U.S. , demonstrated by our empowerment of DJT.
ReplyDeleteNo country has ever displayed the moral restraint shown by modern America in its exercise of its incalculable power. We saved the world from the terribly intimidating evil of 20th century inhuman totalitarianism with our triumphant resolution to do so. And as General Powell once said "we only ask enough ground to bury our dead". We are the "flag which sets you free" and history proves us so.
Let unapologetic conviction of that reality be the rudder of our foreign policy. Exercise of power is the way of the world and we have done it in a manner unprecedented in its humanity. None of our detractors, foreign or domestic , can decisively gainsay that. With that as his rationale, let DJT pursue a forward policy with the world.
Dr. Waddy from Jack : To my knowledge, in professional military circles in the late 20th century the Soviet threat to the North Atlantic consisted mainly in its multitude of submarines . Even in WWII we secured Iceland rather, in order to mitigate was at many times in WWII, a truly harrowing submarine threat. True, long range Soviet "Backfire" bombers were much feared but they would not have required Greenland as a base. And in a nuclear era, a few nukes might have sufficed to vaporize any Soviet bases in Greenland. A world expansive China was not a factor at that time.
ReplyDeleteToo, Soviet -American relations were undergoing many many faceted changes in the late 20th century and perhaps an American acquisition of Greenland might have strengthened Soviet hard liners. I've often thought that had I gone into a coma in 1988 and awakened in say, 1993 to hear that the Soviet Union had fallen, I would have said"how many millions were killed in World War III?" The diplomacy of President Reagan, Saint John Paul II and courageous Poland might have worked a miracle against which otherwise unbearably incensed Soviet thugs might have worked catastrophe.
Trump's trade war with Canada and Mexico is unnecessary and counter-productive. It's also based on false premises, especially in terms of Canada. For example, the U.S. trade deficit with Canada is $45 billion -- 4.5% of the nearly trillion of economic trade between the two countries. That's hardly being taken advantage of. It is estimated that over 2000 pounds of fentanyl was seized from, Mexico last year. From Canada, 43 pounds were seized.
ReplyDeleteBut, after promising to drive prices down, prices will start going up because of these tariffs. That will hurt growth and increase inflation. People will remember the broken promises in 2026. Oh, and how is that promise of ending the Russia-Ukraine war on the first day going?
Rod
Dr. Waddy from Jack: Wow! Kristi Noem is an hombre!. As soon as she took office she went directly to the border, at 3am , in the western gear which I'm sure is no affectation. Today she was shown riding horse with the troops. Reportedly she is having a very favorable and remedial effect on the morale of law enforcement and military now guarding the border (including state law enforcement.) They rightly perceive that they will be BACKED now instead of being put at hazard of their careers and their lives (as everyone in law enforcement knows, if you go soft on law breakers they get mighty irritated about any form of restraint , no matter how compromised by apologists for crime; give 'em an inch and they expect ten miles - its just common sense to recognize that verity).
ReplyDeleteIt just goes to confirm what should be a maxim now. When dems are in charge anywhere, law enforcement and the military are treated with contempt. The Clintons started that nasty tradition. Oh, pore 'ol foggy Biden didn't mean them no harm but he empowered people who most certainly do. When the GOP is in charge law enforcement and the military are treated with respect, gratitude and support when the going gets bad. The electorate knew that and its one of the major reasons they voted as they did Nov. 5.
Dr. Waddy from Jack: I wish Canada were not tasked so by us with this tariff. Canadians are stand up people and I'm sure would gladly cooperate with our newly found resolve to enforce our border. Some of the violation there was due to the purposefully open border policies of radical Dems and Canada shouldn't be faulted for that . If they were so lax why did it not produce a tsunami of illegals going across the northern border? Canada is a good friend and ally. I say this assuming that the purpose of the tariffs is to create bargaining points for suppression of violation of our border. I am too ignorant of economics to understand the causes of trade deficits.
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy from Jack: Some excerpts from the dems dolorous conclave were comical (eg when they tied themselves in knots meeting their self imposed DEI dictates for their leadership positions. ) And their new leader made haste to declare all out war on DJT; how original of him and so promising given the last four years. May he lead the dems thus into deeper despond.
ReplyDeleteThe recruitment of young gun opponent David Hogg as the remedy to the dems' apparent loss of the support of so many of the young: my guess is that most young adults don't particularly care about gun control and would not like to be thwarted if they CHOOSE to arm themselves. And many of them know that leftist gun "control" means eventual confiscation of all means of self protection and insolent defiance of criminals. Many of them crave life in big cities, where criminals are having a field day just now.
The dems ("like the Egyptians in their fog" ) may still not be able to see beyond the calamitous rebuff they have sustained to face the fact that it is not only political, it is cultural. Many, many who simply could not bring themselves to admit that the dem party is dominated by those devoted to forceful "fundamental transformation" of all they cherish in America, have been, well, "awoken." Antiamerican leftist incipient totalitarians went for the kill against a DJT they knew personified the America they despise. And that America caught on; boy did it ever!
So good luck Dems with your unreconstructed , now obvious hatred of our country. You laid bare your intentions and the methods you would use in absolute power in the last four years with your execrable personal assault on DJT and his family and on Maga nation.
All in all, I wish long tenure of the new dem leadership and perpetuation of the policies which have brought them to this deservedly humiliating crossroad. I for one, couldn't care less if they survive, our country LIVES increasingly free of their marxist presumption and totalitarian essence.
Jack, you are right that we have pursued a remarkably mild, selfless foreign policy over the last century or so...but unfortunately our reward for doing so is that we're treated as the world's doormat. Now we need to remind the world that there are indignities the USA simply won't tolerate.
ReplyDeleteJack, I'd say Greenland was just as important to our strategic posture in the Cold War as much of northern Canada and Iceland were, but the reason we never acquired Greenland was, presumably, because we didn't need to. Greenland's Danish masters were perfectly happy to let us do whatever we needed to in the frozen wastes...
Rod, you must be disappointed that the trade wars have already fizzled. I know you were really looking forward to watching Trumpers break down in tears in the grocery aisle...
Jack, I feel like Kristi Noem is already a star of the new administration. She could go far (which is saying a lot for someone who already has)!
I agree that prosecuting a long-term, high-stakes trade war with either Canada or Mexico would be dumb. Trump has mounted a surgical trade "strike" rather than a full-scale war, and I'm glad.
Jack, it does not seem that the Dems are prepared to "fundamentally transform" themselves, which I guess makes sense, since they view themselves as the font of all wisdom and virtue. Good, I say! Let them stew in their own juices for eternity. The truth, I feel, is that, if the Dems keep operating based on the same, tired old playbook, they will decline steadily. I say that because they are losing their purchase on some key institutions, namely corporate America, the media, and social media, which they NEED to bamboozle the multitudes. Even their ultimate "safe space", higher ed, is in decline in many respects. Modern progressivism relies on censorship and coercion for a reason: when it is forced to defend itself and its ideas in an open debate, it crumbles. And for this reason I am more and more optimistic about America's and the world's future every day.
Dr. Waddy from Jack : I fully agree with your evaluation of the dems' present posture. And I am elated to see your perception that they are beginning to fluff in their non governmental fiefs. Sans those institutions, they would be sunk unless they pull a Slick Willy and they may just be sunk as deep in the far left mire as to be unable to shed it. It ain't '92 anymore.
ReplyDeleteThey are engulfed in a "long night of the soul" and I hope they stay in its stygian embrace for good. The destruction of the now shamed and discredited old dem party itself may be the ultimate product of the far left's incipient power grab for totalitarian rule we have endured since the '60s. As Lincoln said in a different setting" a house divided against itself cannot long endure . . . it must become one or the other". We can be certain that antiamerica fanatically and reflexively intends that it become ALL of their tyrannical "thing". But an America free of their onerous presence, with free speech and enquiry , equality before the law, deference to the taxpayer, intolerance of criminals and lively political dialectic practiced with a modicum of courtesy and without the incomparable viciousness which is essential to the far left, is the "other" which now bids fair.
Jack, all this "winning" begs the question: what would it take to obliterate the Left and the Democratic Party as we know them, and what would replace them, in due course? The latter question is of purely academic interest at this stage, but the former is the question of the hour, if you ask me: why settle for provisional, partial victories when you can finish the job? I would concentrate on discrediting the legacy media, exposing corruption in the left-wing campaign finance apparatus, jailing prominent Dems who have committed crimes, and encouraging dissension between progressives and Dem moderates. Ultimately, we want the Left and center to part ways. My guess is the Left won't destroy itself. It needs our encouragement and support!
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy from Jack: I think the MSM is doing a good job of greasing the skids its already on but a good push can't hurt (us). That new Press Secretary Carolyn Leavitt, is yet another hombre isn't she. She's ultra well prepared, very well spoken and she has plenty of sand. You can see the forlorn traditional MSM ers in her audience chafing at it; they want to be creeps with gotchas ready to throw but this woman is getting them cowed. Gads, team Trump has done a great job of recruiting, from JD on down.
ReplyDeleteI think with what we must earnestly hope is the beginning of an end for the presently constituted Dem party ,that we can have confidence that a Marxists purged America will have plenty of room of beneficial political dialectic. It could even include a redeemed Dem party but I'd much rather see that mightily disgraced junta go the way of the Know Nothings and the Bull Moose. Their descent into insanity and totalitarian mesmerization has been a terribly bizarre crater in the road of American progress.
Jack, I'd say we're long overdue for a partisan transformation! I wouldn't be sad to see the back of the GOP, truth be told, let alone the dastardly Dems.
ReplyDeleteI agree: Trump has recruited a much, much stronger cast for Act Two. That could make all the difference.
Dr. Waddy from Jack: Its very interesting to speculate upon what form the disappearance of both the dem mob and the GOP would take in our polity. There is some precedent in our history The important Whig party dissolved into an amalgam of antislavery Whigs, Know Nothings, loyal democrats and border staters in the Republican party. Most dems went South for awhile . No doubt the views which motivate the vast majority of those who voted GOP in this election will still have vast influence. Perhaps not so the radical left. It might go the way of the secessionists . But liberals of good will might be able to muster considerable support as long as they scorn the hatred and the incipient totalitarianism of the Dem party they clung to for so long because they feared the alternative to be unendurable. They may well have finally realized the unendurable future sought by today's obsequious, DEI intimidated and guilt ridden far left captured husk of a "Democrat" entity and their stupidly apologetic to a monumentally ungrateful boomer rump antiamerican husk of a once great party.
ReplyDeleteJack, add the Democratic Party to the long list of ossified institutions that Trump and Musk are trying to undermine. So far, these institutions appear to have vampiric qualities, i.e. they stubbornly refuse to die no matter how many wounds they receive.
ReplyDelete