Donald Trump wants to annex Canada to gain access to its critical minerals, Trudeau says

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-trudeau-holds-economic-summit-in-face-of-us-tariff-threats/

43 comments

  2. Not to mention, with global warming, Toronto could be as warm as Atlanta in a couple of centuries, and Yellowknife might feel like Minneapolis.

    Just hang in there, population growth will be booming soon enough.

  3. Yes. This expanse in imperialism is to offset the disastrous economic policies they have set forth to achieve.

  5. Trump’s absurd plan to annex Canada for its critical minerals is a desperate power grab fueled by greed, and Trudeau’s warning shows that even our northern neighbors see it for the farce it is.

  7. I thought there is something called the “democratic peace”.

  8. I have no doubt that this is the correct assessment. Access or ownership without payment — this has defined Trump his entire life.

  9. [Archive](https://archive.ph/xxMfI)

    **Trudeau holds economic summit in face of U.S. tariff threats**

    Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is gathering with business and labour leaders in Toronto Friday for a summit on how Canada can attract more investment, dismantle internal trade barriers and find new international customers as the threat of U.S. protectionism looms over the country.

    The get-together comes just days after a last-minute delay in plans by U.S. President Donald Trump to impose steep tariffs on all Canadian imports – a potentially devastating shock that drew fresh attention to Canada’s overreliance on the U.S. market. More than 75 per cent of all this country’s merchandise good exports go to the United States.

    On Monday, Mr. Trump delayed tariffs on Canada for 30 days after Ottawa agreed to more measures to fight the illegal production and distribution of fentanyl. But other protectionist threats from the Republican White House include talk of more tariffs on steel, aluminum and copper, as well as measures to address trade imbalances with foreign countries.

    The Prime Minister has said the Toronto summit will try to draft what he called a long-term prosperity agenda.
    In a statement earlier this week, Mr. Trudeau said the Canada-U.S. Economic Summit will bring “together partners across business, civil society and organized labour to find ways to galvanize our economy, create more jobs and bigger paycheques, make it easier to build and trade within our borders, and diversify export markets.”
    “We want businesses, investors and workers to choose Canada.”

    Rising U.S. protectionism is damaging business investment in Canada. One of Mr. Trump’s goals in threatening tariffs on allies, Canadian officials have repeatedly said, is to force investors to relocate manufacturing to the United States – at the expense of America’s trading partners. In addition, Mr. Trump has vowed to cut taxes and regulations, measures that could make the U.S. a more attractive market for businesses.

    Candace Laing, the president of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, which represents more than 200,000 businesses, has warned companies are already relocating from this country to the United States to avoid tariff threats. She said she will be attending the summit.

    Ms. Laing said Canada needs bold action – citing the example of the construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway System – and clear direction to offer hope to businesses.

    “This is an all-hands-on-deck moment.”

    Dismantling barriers to trade between provinces and territories, new incentives for investors and action to cut taxes and regulation are also needed, she said.

    “We have a Trump administration today promising massive regulatory and tax changes [and] that leaves us very vulnerable.”

    Mr. Trump re-entered the White House determined to alter the balance of U.S. trade. He and key members of his administration have described plans to use new tariffs as a tool to drive manufacturing to U.S. soil. They also see taxes on foreign goods as a way to bolster American public finances. Among their plans is to use a new External Revenue Service to complement and, where possible, supplant the country’s Internal Revenue Service.

    The U.S. President has also talked of imposing tariffs on foreign steel, aluminum and copper. And by April 1, U.S. government departments and agencies are supposed to report to the White House on the country’s trade deficits with major trading partners and recommend measures to rebalance.

    Mr. Trump has repeatedly complained about the fact that the United States has a trade deficit with Canada, but Canadian officials say this reflects significant petroleum sales to American customers.

    Mr. Trump’s threatened tariffs – 10 per cent on Canadian energy and 25 per cent on the rest of Canadian goods – risk erasing economic growth in Canada this year.

  11. I wouldn’t FO with a Canuck. They are low-key until you light them up.

  14. I think it’s time we change back from a nuclear capable nation to a nuclear armed one. We have the knowledge and materials to make it, and even as nothing other than a deterrent I think it’s time we get it back in our arsenal.

  15. Trudeau is right. As the U.S. increasingly isolate ourselves from the world we will lose access to key materials needed ranging from everyday life to high end science labs (if they even still are operating under this administration that is).

    Trump will need someone to blame and need to look strong so he’ll inevitably start ramping up rhetoric justifying his need to invade. It won’t happen in the short term but it’s a real possibility by the second half of his presidency. Added bonus? Can’t wait for the “we are at war we can’t have an election right now” line to drop.

  16. People need to stop taking anything Trump says as a joke. Honestly world leaders need to be frank with Trump so we know he hears it too.

    Tell him anything he says we must be taken to heart. After that he can’t pretended he’s joking on things like his initial joke about taking Canada.

  17. Doing this via military force would kick off a second US Civil War, and then World War III. It would be suicidal.

    This is why they are trying to subjugate us with economic threats. It is crucial that we diversify our trading partners and eliminate any reliance on the USA and its new fascist dictatorship.

    We also should be requesting UK/French nukes in Canada immediately, to safeguard NATO territory from the Russian threat.

    A madman is pointing a gun at us and we cannot afford to take any chances.

  18. As a former military veteran of both the Canadian and the United States military all I stated this is over my God damn dead body

  19. It’s about climate change which they deny. It is so absurd. If it came to it we just have to give the north. Which we will never do because they are the true Canadians.

    It is not about minerals. It is the shipping lanes.

  20. Trump wants to enrich himself and his billionaire buddies. He doesn’t give a shit how it might effect anyone else.

  21. America already has access to Canada’s minerals through trade relations.

    Trump wants to Annex Canada because Trump is a crazy nut job who wants to be an Emperor.

  23. What would the average US citizen think if this went ahead?

    You’d think the US military would just be like “No, Donald.”

    But maybe that’s wishful thinking on my part.

  24. All they have to do for that is invest in some mines…. Now they have access. Really want to go about it the hard way eh?

  26. Let’s be clear. There’s no such thing as an “annexation of Canada”, “making Canada the 51st state”, or any other such BS. It would be an invasion by a hostile country exactly like Russia invading Ukraine. Let’s all stop “sane washing” the actions of a wannabe dictator and push back hard against him and the oligarchs supporting him (Musk, Zuckerberg, Bezos, Pichi, and the rest)

  28. Buy them if you want them, or we’ll sell to China. Force yourself on us and you will need a military brigade to protect every mine, well and piece of equipment, cause they will be destroyed. If we can’t benefit form our own resources, neither will fascist MAGA cult.

  29. Or, they could make a free trade agreement and it would be almost identical to Canada being part of the US, just without having to deal with funding Canadian healthcare.

    If Canada became part of the US, the minerals wouldn’t be free, someone still has to mine them, process them, refine them, etc. At least with a free trade agreement there wouldn’t be American tariffs on them.

  33. So which is it. WW3, civil war, greatest depression, or complete market collapse. How can the status quo survive this power grab?

  34. To any Americans who are behind this plan, he isn’t going to share that wealth with you. He will plunder our resources for himself and his rich friends.

  35. Gee, if only there was some other way to gain access to a country’s resources that was significantly cheaper than invading and occupying the country. Of course Trump and his billionaire cronies wouldn’t understand that friends want to help each other out…

  36. Respect Canadian sovereignty and the sovereignty of Greenland! US citizen here and I am disgusted by how we have been treating our allies.

    We can’t even take care of our current states and territories and to even suggest that we should annex new territories that are our ALLIES is atrocious, foolish, and dangerous.

  37. Try it fatties you may conquer us but you’ll never hold it.

  38. How about just… buying the minerals? It’s not like Canada is hostile to foreign investment.

  39. What happened to America does not need anything from other countries?

  40. This is why we don’t want apologies from Americans. Apologies don’t do anything. We want our freedom.

  41. Remember when people refused to vote for Harris because they thought she was going to start World War 3?

    Welp the person you thought was the harbinger of peace has already threatened to annex at least 3 different countries by force in his first month in office.

    Congratulations idiots, you destroyed the country you claimed to love.

  42. The world at this point should just abandon the USA and let them get on with it. Fuck them completely. No trade, no diplomacy, no negotiations, nothing. Let them rot.

  43. One added scary component here is that Canada leans overwhelmingly to the left. Trump knows that Canada’s introduction into the union would hand democrats permanent control of all branches of government, *and he wants to do it anyway*. He wouldn’t do this unless he had plans to completely revoke our current democratic system and replace it with something else.

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