Lawrence Martin writes that, if sanity prevails, Donald Trump will not impose tariffs on automobiles manufactured in Canada. Recently, there has been a strong chorus in favour of sanity and against Trump's claim that the tariffs would strengthen American national security:
Vehement voices came together Thursday at Commerce Department hearings on the tariff proposals. It was an onslaught. More than 40 parties testified. With the exception of labour unions, representatives from most every component of the U.S. automotive value chain raised alarm bells.
But if it sounds like a no-brainer that the Trump tariff plan is headed for the dustbin, there are some who believe the President’s mind is already made up, that the hearings are just to show that consultation was undertaken, and that he will move ahead with the measures that promise to be far more punishing than his steel and aluminum tariffs.
The governments of Mexico, Canada and Ontario joined in with similar appraisals. “Rather than potentially strengthening U.S. national security,” Canada’s deputy ambassador to the U.S. Kirsten Hillman said in a strong presentation, “tariffs on automotive imports from Canada would undermine U.S. security and would have a devastating impact on U.S. competitiveness in the auto sector.”
She made the point that given the degree of integrated cross-border production, “Canadian cars are U.S. cars,” explaining that assembled vehicles exported from Canada to the United States contain more than 50 per cent U.S. content.
All quite reasonable arguments. But reason -- and sanity -- are not Donald Trump's strong suites.
Image: Autofocus.ca
16 comments:
You're quite right, Owen. But I believe you mean "strong suits," not "strong suites."
Cap
Suite is one of those French words which we mispronounce in English, Cap. If you look the word up in a dictionary it will read, "a number of things forming a series or set." -- as in a suite of cards.
I read a piece in Aviation Week this morning about European projects to develop new stealth fighters. One is a Franco-German effort. The latest is the British "Tempest." This is a pushback against Lockheed and Trump.
The Euros have become wary of turning into US defence dependencies, something that the F-35 creates. They would rather build their own aircraft in their own factories than risk getting squeezed out of that niche entirely. Trump adds to that incentive by his bellicose trade policy and his reliability on NATO, etc. Europe can no longer trust America.
Britain, meanwhile, is on a go-it-alone stealth venture in part because of the uncertainty of Brexit. The European aviation industry is reluctant to get ensnarled in that.
America's rivals are also taking advantage of the damage Trump is causing. BBC had an item this morning about India now following China's lead in expanding its influence in Africa. Modi has apparently launched an initiative into Uganda to establish India's toehold in the continent.
Putin has to be delighted at how successful Trump has been at knocking down the American brand around the world, even among America's closest allies.
The English pronunciation of suite is very close to the French. I can't find any support for pronouncing suite as suit. OTOH, there's this from the OED:
strong suit
NOUN
1 (in bridge or whist) a holding of a number of high cards of one suit in a hand.
1.1 one's strong suit Something at which one excels.
‘compassion is not Jack's strong suit’
Cap
Putin couldn't be happier with Trump's performance, Mound. Perhaps Donald sees himself as Gary Cooper in High Noon -- one man against the world. Unfortuntely, that's Hollywood's world. It's not the world he's living in.
I understand where you're going with this, Cap. I will be considered a heretic by some if I disagree with the OED. Merriam Webster offers this definition: "a group of things forming a unit or constituting a collection." The language changes and my use of the word is a little archaic -- it goes back to the 17th century.
My point, though, is that the French word still works in English. Perhaps it's just another indication that I'm behind the times -- something I'm increasingly aware of these days.
Of course it works, Owen. Suite and suit share a common etymology. Standardized spelling is quite recent and still subject to disputes. Someday we'll fix it, or as Mark Twain put it, “Fainali, xen, aafte sam 20 iers ov orxogrefkl riform, wi wud hev a lojikl, kohirnt speling in ius xrewawt xe Ingliy-spiking werld.”
Cap
Yes, Cap. Twain understood the problem. I once taught in a school that had two editions of Huckleberry Finn -- the one Twain wrote and a boulderized version taking out what some considered the offensive dialect.
The bowlderized version was a strange book -- and no fun to read.
I'm looking for something that saves the industry's precious cheap Mexican labour links in the supply chains while Canada remains targeted. Has anybody got more bilateral and multilateral "free trade" deals in their pocket than Mexico? Consider the interacting complexities within that horde of arrangements together with the Maquila and whatever Industry Promotion Programs they've pulled out of their asses over the years and figure out who the real experts are in this racket. Maybe we'll even see what appears to be an agreement to go along with some token government mandated wage increase that's somewhere below the speculated $16 "floor", but still enough to enable Trump to market it as a sort of success, while business mostly as usual carries on over that border.
Let's see what happens; let's keep an ear tuned to Promexico and see what they've already come up with but haven't sprung on us yet. Maybe we won't even notice how tight the Mexicans are capable of being with everybody they need to be, while our boys remain focussed on keeping the faith and carrying water for the CFIB.
And in consideration of Trump's go-to complaint about Canadian unfairness, just remember this: it's never really about cheese.
I suspect Trump really wants separate deals with both Canada and Mexico, John. That might do allow for some wage disparities. But it would destroy -- or put a crimp in -- supply chains. I suspect the titans of the industry would veto that option.
Owen, I'm not convinced Trump wants any deals of any type with anyone. He looks to be having a massive never-ending tantrum. Maybe something is slipping by me but I just can't see any reason for his behavior.
Perhaps that's the mistake the world is making, Toby. We look for a reason for Trump's behaviour. But Trump's ghost writer, Tony Schwartz, says bluntly that Trump is mentally ill. He does what he does because he 's a few sandwiches short of a picnic.
When I saw the headline on Progressive Bloggers, I assumed it was going to be a word play on the Ambassadorial Suite or something at Trump Towers.
No such luck. Just a simple misspelling left to moulder. Too bad people are trying to justify it when it is simply incorrect.
If you don't believe me, I have a nice used dark grey business suite for sale
BM
Treason Tribble Трамп's engaged in classic violent narcissic behaviour, complete with gaslighting,
It's not rocket science,
He's a serial abuser who's trying to do to International Relations what serial abusers do to family relations.
When I went to graduate school at the University of North Carolina, BM, there were two Canadians in my first class -- a girl who had just graduated from the University of Toronto and me, from Montreal. When our first essays were returned, we both got barely passing grades. The professor -- whose PhD was from LSU -- was horrified by our spelling. "Theatre," "neighbour," "honour" and several other words were mispelled.
But, we said, in Britain and Canada they are spelled that way. His answer was simple. "You're not in Canada anymore," he said. "This is the way we spell it here." Spell it your way in your place, BM. I'll spell it my way.
Trump only has one strategy for dealing with people, Jay. It's been tried before and it's been an abject failure. But, for Trump, that history doesn't matter.
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