Did you have a trade war with the U.S. on your bingo card to kick off 2025?
After the U.S. slapped a 25% tariff on incoming Canadian goods, in response to the federal government’s apparent inaction on securing the border and fighting the war on fentanyl, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s response was a similar tariff on select goods from America.
Our 25% tarrifs will apply to goods originating from the U.S., as defined by the Determination of Country of Origin for the Purposes of Marking Goods (CUSMA Countries) Regulations. These regulations determine a product’s country of origin based on where it underwent its last substantial transformation
In Canada’s list of products part of the 25% tariffs, it also lists “video game consoles and machines,” interestingly enough.
This list was mentioned in the same section with “table or parlour games, including pintables, billiards, special tables for casino games and automatic bowling equipment, amusement machines operated by coins, bank notes, bank cards, tokens or by any other means of payment.”
Now, the first video game consoles that come to mind include the major ones like Microsoft’s Xbox, Sony PlayStation and Nintendo Switch. But since Xbox consoles are primarily made in China, they are considered products of China for customs purposes. So they will likely not qualify as part of the the tariffs imposed on U.S.-based goods. The same goes for the PlayStation and Switch (owned by Japanese companies), as they will also be exempt. The only US-based video game console we can think of would be an…Atari?
The feds are also set to include passenger vehicles and trucks, including electric vehicles to see a 25% tariff applied. So any US carmaker will see tariffs applied, which would include the likes of Tesla.
President Donald Trump has said that if Canada retaliates with tariffs, it will push even more tariffs on the country. At the end of the day, Canada’s GDP is about one-tenth the size of the USA. Nobody wins in a trade war and the losers will be consumers and other companies that have relied entirely on the U.S. market.
How did Canada get roped into this trade war mess–along with Mexico– in the first place? What are you going to do? Buy nothing but ‘made in Canada’ and also cancel your subscriptions to Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV+, and more? Smash your iPhone with a hammer and go back to a BlackBerry?
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Netflix, Disney canceled. And I've never had Apple products. It will be not easy to boycott all US services and products, but at least what is possible to stop buying, why not.
Don't forget to boycott Starbucks, Costco, McDonald's, any US clothing you're wearing, any websites hosted on AWS…the list goes on, LOL
Boycotts do not work. I would say, keep doing what you are doing and hope that Justin figures out that he is not the person to deal with this problem and call an election so that Pierre can call Trump and Trump will actually talk with him, unlike Justin.
Talking with a bully is futile. The only way to deal with one is stand up to them. And that's what other countries are starting to do as well. Good for them.
This is not a Trudeau thing. This is a Canada thing. Trump has repeatedly declared he wants this country as the 51st state with the latest declaration being today on Truth social. He’s had Fox News and Kevin O’Leary conditioning his MAGA faithful for weeks now. If Pierre states that he will sign the country over to the US, of course Trump will talk with him. Otherwise, you can forget it.
Hmm it would be a good thing for Canada to join the USA.
Absolutely not.
Finally someone talks sense. Trump has proven time and time again he will do whatever it takes to absolutely batter through any checks and balances there are in effect to destroy reasonable discussion about anything he does.
We are a tiny fish in a huge pond. The idea that our next PM can do anything to negotiate, much less stop, Trump is absolutely laughable. He's a convicted felon and yet is still managing to get to lead a country into the ground.
Good luck America and everyone else. We're all gonna need it.
Trump remembers Trudeau bashing him during the Biden era…and Trudeau's team of r3tards based on DEI hires have no frickn clue how to run a country. Look at Freeland as our finance minister, what a disaster.
My approach is going to be more practical. I was planning a trip to Florida but will cancel it. Not really out of spite but because the USD will become more expensive, and I can just as easily head elsewhere inside Canada or to Europe. All the items that will have tariffs will go up in price, and I will not buy them. A weaker CAD will impact grocery options too, and I will just try to adjust for that. It's not going to be fun, and I wish the Canadian economy diversifies as a result of this, but hating on American products will have limited impact on the things that will have a real impact on my life.
Maybe now we can buy phones from China – like the latest Huawei phones 💪👍
And EV's from China like BYD
It would be sweet to see more OnePlus/TCL phones in Canadian cell phone stores.
we definitely need more EVs from China…
I am not giving my money to a country that wants to destroy us. We need to trade more with other countries and start making more stuff here at home. We should have been doing this all along.
Then don't buy Canadian.
Just in time for that RTX 50XX series..
I will simply hope for an election to happen as soon as possible. As for products, I don't care where it comes from, I only care about the quality and the price.
Then move south, traitor.
You don’t deserve to live in such an amazing country.
People calling everyone traitors like that, is the reason we are in this situation.
Hmm Canada is not "Amazing".
What do you do for work? Cashier?
can you go back to freezing peoples bank accounts? wake up!
I hope you get cancer
The newly-elected PM will still be the leader of Canada and have all of the power and tools to work with (or lack thereof) as the previous leader. I don't know what you think the country will magically become following an election, never mind the fact that, as a largely centrist nation, at least in voting, all national elections tend to turn on small details and disagreements rather than large ideological battles. Removing the Carbon Tax is not going to change Trump's regard for the country.
free markets should be considered…canada protects the oligopolies…
I support the trade war 1000 percent. Canada has an unfair advantage when it comes to trade and it is heavily subsidized by the US. No more. I also support clearing out the DEI. People completely unqualified to perform in lead positions who’ve been hired and promoted based on ideology and not qualifications. Results driven, best qualified in merit and experience needs to be the only standards for employment and promotion, not identity or ideology. No more. We need an animal like Trump in Canada. Unforgiving. Unapologetic. Ferocious.
We need less Canadians like you – traitors. Move south if you love him so much you fascist c%$t.
isn't time to change your tampon in the men's bathroom?
Lol. What a brainwashed idiot. Move to the US if you don't like it here.
yet more proof that Trump has a cult that has no critical thinking skills.
I'm sure you support the defunding and destruction of the department of education. Because you yourself clearly lack having one. What happened to basic economics 101 from high school in America?
HIRE ON MERIT. END OF STORY!
Even an elementary school kid can understand the simple fact that there are not any subsidies. trump calls the trading deficit, where Canada sells more to US than the US to Canada, a subsidy. It is not. The US buys Canadian goods and services because they need them, they don’t just send money to Canada for nothing in return. There’s nothing unfair about it and it is done under the USMCA, the free trade agreement that trump said he created and that was the best deal ever.
His words: “The USMCA is the fairest, most balanced, and beneficial trade agreement we have ever signed into law. It’s the best agreement we’ve ever made, and we have others coming.” If US is so bothered by the trade deficit with Canada and want to reduce it, they can simply buy less from Canada. Nobody is forcing them to buy Canadian. The fact is, they do it because they get the good quality and fair prices and if that wasn’t the case they would go elsewhere and get a better deal. But they don’t and that is somehow Canadian fault?
Here's the thing about Canada. They're stupid, as a country, as a people, I'm sorry, but it's true. It's how the government has wanted you to be, because when you're smart, you'll leave. I know, I can feel the unsubstantiated anger at such a blanket statement.
The only reason the country has some level of intelligence is actually from the rest of the world. Electronics from China, Eduction from Britan, Cars from the US and Japan, Nintendo, iPhone etc. In exchange? The only thing (by majority of GDP) that Canada offers is… Crude Oil.
Everything else is just a by product of that, the equalization, government spending to excess, hospitals, you name it. It's hard to name a single atom that was actually made in Canada.
In the end it will actually be the average Canadian that will suffer from this. Prices will go up, and Canada offers so little to the world, they're going to just dig that stupidity trench deeper.
we have so many resources yet we refuse to take advantage of them…so instead the government taxes us to death!
“Eduction from Britan.” “By product.” Funny how smug trolls who accuse others of stupidity can hardly ever spell their own BS.
Ohh a typo wow
I now zero US based subscriptions. Looking at alternatives to gmail. It's a hassle to change an email address but time to dump any US based products and services. I will miss Apple Fitness and Music but in the case of music streaming there are Canadian alternatives.
are you also going to dump the refined gasoline in your car that came from the USA? you know that other Canadian emails use American cloud services like AWS or Azure?
Yes I am well aware that it is not entirely possible to rid myself of all American inputs but I can put a stop to the ones that I have control over. I have wanted to dump as many google services as I can. This has pushed me to look at alternatives. And if nothing else dumping these American based services means I will be able to afford the resulting inflation that the orange moron is going to unleash on everyone.
A deal has been made…ART OF THE DEAL!~
A deal has been made…ART OF THE DEAL!~