I'm kinda surprised they haven't been doing this all along, or at least something to recover revenue from US folks using their roads to travel between the US but not contributing much to the economy in between.
Canada considering charging for road access from USA to Alaska
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Re: Canada considering charging for road access from USA to Alaska
#92I’m surprised all the countries the US is trying to bully aren’t considering moving to the Euro as the reserve currency (even China might go along with this). It would be so damaging for the US they might actually understand they have been benefiting from a win-win situation since the end of the Second World War.
Why does having the reserve country benefit america? Because it enables us to run unsustainable deficits? Is that good for Americans in the long run?
the american standard of living would collapse if america could not run deficits. in the very long term, like in 50 years, it might actually be better for america, but this generation of americans would be hurt big time.
Re: Canada considering charging for road access from USA to Alaska
#93I've seen two apocalyptic North American scenarios in fiction, and have previously dismissed both as ridiculous. 1. In the Fallout universe, the USA annexes Canada 2. In at least two Neal Stephenson novels (Snowcrash and Termination Shock), the USA has collapsed. I've never before thought that either of these would have a semi-realistic path to actually happening.
> dismissed both as ridiculous I think this idealism/naiveness is why you're now sliding further and further away from democracy. Older countries already had their democracies stress-tested, but seemingly this is the biggest test so far for the "checks and balances" in the US, and I feel like many other countries learned to always live with idea that democracy can slip away really quickly unless you always pay attent…
How do you reconcile that idea with the fact that the United States is the oldest country with a continuously running democracy?
Re: Canada considering charging for road access from USA to Alaska
#94What a lot of commenters cheering this headline might not know is that there is only one single internal road connecting east and west canada which regularly closes. Most commercial routes go through the US. Don't believe me? Route Ottawa to Vancouver in google maps. This move would amount to throwing rocks from a glass house.
I'm guessing it will close less regularly if they need it open.
Re: Canada considering charging for road access from USA to Alaska
#95What a lot of commenters cheering this headline might not know is that there is only one single internal road connecting east and west canada which regularly closes. Most commercial routes go through the US. Don't believe me? Route Ottawa to Vancouver in google maps. This move would amount to throwing rocks from a glass house.
Ottawa to Vancouver in google maps goes through the US because the distance is shorter.
Re: Canada considering charging for road access from USA to Alaska
#96I've seen two apocalyptic North American scenarios in fiction, and have previously dismissed both as ridiculous. 1. In the Fallout universe, the USA annexes Canada 2. In at least two Neal Stephenson novels (Snowcrash and Termination Shock), the USA has collapsed. I've never before thought that either of these would have a semi-realistic path to actually happening.
And in Cyperpunk 2077, the EU rearms and asserts is power, resulting in the euro becoming the world’s currency and the US being broken into multiple competing city-states and regional governments. Also everything is ruled by corporations. We’re not on the fun timeline :(
Can I at least get some sick augs out of this mess?
Re: Canada considering charging for road access from USA to Alaska
#97Earlier quoted context omitted.
I suspect many countries would prefer a Chinese reserve currency to a European one, due to past bad experiences of being ruled by Europeans. But even on a purely economic level… does the Eurozone even have a larger economy than China? I can see countries moving away from USD, but I don’t see them coalescing around a single alternative.
The RMB is a terrible reserve currency since the CCP can just arbitrarily change its value by decree.
Sure — but if the CCP decided it wanted the benefits of owning a reserve currency, it could change that. Then suddenly it looks more attractive.
Re: Canada considering charging for road access from USA to Alaska
#98I don't understand any of the justifications for a trade war with Canada. IIRC, Trump was fudging numbers by only including the "goods" part of "goods & services" so the deficit looked worse than it actually was (assuming a deficit is even bad in the first place) It's also bewildering that Trump literally negotiated a trade deal in his first term with Mexico and Canada but is now saying we're getting screwed? Is this…
The justification is Trump wants to do to Canada much what Putin is doing to Ukraine. Russia being allowed to take Ukraine legitimizes world powers engaging in conquest within their sphere. It's really that simple.
The talk about fentanyl, the supposed trade imbalance, and all the rest is just smoke and noise, because if he said that he wanted to raid Canada for resources and Lebensraum it might actually threaten his support.
He's not being subtle in this. He and his people have made constant comments that Canada doesn't work as a nation, that the border is artificial, and even explicitly that the tariffs would just go away if Canada became the 51st state. This is economic warfare driven by manifest destiny.
Re: Canada considering charging for road access from USA to Alaska
#99Earlier quoted context omitted.
Canada's market is 10% of the USA. Of course there's going to be an imbalance in trade. Trump doesn't understand this, and he thinks that it means that Canada (the government) is literally ripping off the USA. Just like he doesn't understand that tariffs are paid by the buyer, not the government of the seller. Finally, the current trade treaty between Canada-USA-Mexico was negotiated by Trump himself, and it replaced…
> When he says it's a bad deal, why is nobody pointing out that he negotiated it? And famously said it was the best trade deal in history. Every sane person is pointing it out. But the asymmetry of lies and indifference to those lies by a large swathe of the electorate is terrifying. I have no idea how to fight this.
My take is that part of this is the fact that the US far right took an interest in Canada after the "trucker" convoy protest here during COVID. Multiple Fox segments on what a terrible "communist" place Canada is. And so it's become a brainworm in Trump's head, among a bunch of others. And a useful demagogic point to distract or rile up his base with.
(Nevermind that DHS would have shot some of those protesters on site if the same kind of protests had occurred on the US side of the border. There's a reason the convoy was mobilized towards Ottawa and not to Washington, even though the vaccine requirements for truckers were actually a Biden regime initiative.)
That and a generally liberal government holding power directly on your border, in the same linguistic/cultural/economic mileux has potential domestic consequences / threat.
Re: Canada considering charging for road access from USA to Alaska
#100That makes perfect sense. It puzzles me why supporters of the current US regime think Canada won’t resist the US. Be it a trade war or a military invasion, Canada will make the cost so great that it may eliminate the US from the world arena. Canada has been cornered and has nothing to lose at this point.
It's incorrect to think of Canada as being "cornered" here nor having "nothing to lose". It's the US that's isolating itself. Canada isn't 'cornered'. It has the entire rest of the world to talk to and make deals with. It has everything to lose by continuing to rely on the US, which is why you're seeing such a hard pivot toward Europe and Asia.
This is silly. US is Canada's biggest trading partner and one of the largest borders in the world. 80% of people live within 1 hour of the border. Free trade has allowed both economies to prosper. Canada has everything to gain with free trade. You are right on over reliance, but free trade benefits everyone.