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Canadian government officials saying that illegal border crossings to USA does not exist !!! BS!!!

Trump says EU tariffs will ‘definitely happen’ as Mexico, Canada and China retaliate \nTrump takes softer line on UK, saying ‘I think that one can be worked out’, while Mexico and Canada vow levies and to strengthen ties with each other \n \nPhilip Wen, Léonie Chao-Fong and agencies \nMon 3 Feb 2025 03.57 GMT \nShare \nDonald Trump has threatened to widen the scope of his trade tariffs, repeating his warning that the European Union – and potentially the UK – will face levies, even as he conceded that Americans could bear some of the economic brunt of a nascent global trade war. \n \nIt comes as Trump’s tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China, announced on Saturday, sparked retaliation from all three countries. Mexico and Canada have vowed levies of their own while China and Canada are seeking legal challenges. \n \nTrump said on Sunday night that new tariffs on the EU will “definitely happen”, repeating previous complaints about the large US trade deficit with the bloc and his desire for Europe to import more American cars and agricultural products. \n \nEmpty shelves remain with signs ''Buy Canadian Instead'' after the top five US liquor brands were removed from sale at a British Columbia liquor store in Vancouver. \nAsian sharemarkets tumble in response to Trump tariffs \nRead more \n“It will definitely happen with the European Union, I can tell you that,” he told reporters. “I wouldn’t say there’s a timeline but it’s going to be pretty soon.” \n \nTrump appeared to take a softer line on the UK, citing a good relationship with prime minister Keir Starmer while saying tariffs still “might happen”. “The UK is out of line but I’m sure that one, I think that one can be worked out,” he said. \n \n“Well Prime Minister Starmer’s been very nice, we’ve had a couple of meetings, we’ve had numerous phone calls, we’re getting along very well, we’ll see whether or not we can balance out our budget.” \n \nIn Canada, the department of finance published a list of US products imported into Canada that it will target with a 25% retaliatory tariff starting on Tuesday. \n \nThe list shows products that will be hit in the first round of retaliatory tariffs by Canada starting on Tuesday, and mounts to $30bn Canadian dollars’ worth of goods (about US$20bn). The impacted products include tobacco, produce, household appliances, firearms and military gear. \n \nCanada is also preparing for a second, broader round of retaliatory tariffs in 21 days that will target an additional C$125bn (US$86bn) worth of US imports. The second list would include passenger vehicles, trucks, steel and aluminum products, certain fruits and vegetables, beef, pork, dairy products and more. \n \nFILES-US-CANADA-MEXICO-CHINA-TRADE-TARIFFS<br>(FILES) US President Donald Trump speaks to the press after signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on January 31, 2025. Trump is imposing steep tariffs on major US trading partners Canada, Mexico and China, with a lower rate on Canadian energy imports, said the White House on February 1, 2025. Washington will impose a 25 percent levy on imports from Canada and Mexico, with a 10 percent rate on Canadian energy resources, until both work with the United States on drug trafficking and immigration. Goods from China, said the White House, would face 10 percent tariffs. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images) \nTop Democrats warn tariffs will hit Americans hard as Trump says it’s ‘worth the price’ \nRead more \nClaudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s president, said her government will provide more details on the retaliatory tariffs she ordered on US goods on Monday. Sheinbaum, in a statement on Sunday, said she will announce details on her government’s “plan B” as she insisted that Mexico “doesn’t want confrontation”. \n \n“Problems are not addressed by imposing tariffs, but with talks and dialogue,” she said. “Sovereignty is not negotiable: coordination yes, subordination no.” \n \n'Coordination yes, subordination no': Mexican president responds to Trump's tariffs – video \nSheinbaum and Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau spoke by phone on Saturday after Trump’s administration imposed the new tariffs – 25% on goods from Canada and Mexico, with a lower rate of 10% for Canadian oil, and 10% on imports from China. \n \nTrudeau’s office said in a statement that Canada and Mexico agreed “to enhance the strong bilateral relations” between their countries. Canadian officials have had extensive dialogue with their Mexican counterparts, but a senior Canadian official said he would not go as far as to say the tariff responses were coordinated. \n \n“Now is the time to choose products made right here in Canada,” Trudeau posted Sunday on X. “Check the labels. Let’s do our part. Wherever we can, choose Canada.” \n \nTrump acknowledged the sweeping tariffs he has imposed on Mexico, Canada and China may cause “short term” pain for Americans as global markets reflected concerns the levies could undermine growth and reignite inflation. Asian markets, cryptocurrencies and US and European stock futures slumped in early Asian trading on Monday. \n \n“We may have short term some little pain, and people understand that. But long term, the United States has been ripped off by virtually every country in the world,” he said. day, Trudeau said: “We’re certainly not looking to escalate, but we will stand up for Canada.” However on Sunday evening, a senior government official from Canada briefing reporters in Ottowa on condition of anonymity said: “We will obviously pursue the legal recourse that we believe we have through the agreements that we share with the United States.” \n \nThe official said the Canadian government considered the move by Trump illegal and said it violates the trade commitments between the two countries under their free trade agreement and under the World Trade Organization. \n \n“If other legal avenues are available to us, they will be considered as well,” the official said. \n \nCanada is the largest export market for 36 states, and Mexico is the largest trading partner of the US. \n \nCanada and Mexico ordered the tariffs despite Trump’s further threat to increase the duties charged if retaliatory levies are placed on US goods. \n \nChina also said it would file a lawsuit against the tariffs. The imposition of tariffs by the US “seriously violates” World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, China’s commerce ministry said in a statement, urging the US to “engage in frank dialogue and strengthen cooperation”. \n \nFiling a lawsuit with the WTO would be a largely symbolic move that Beijing has also taken against tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles by the EU. \n \nThe commerce ministry also said the tariffs were “not only unhelpful in solving the US’s own problems, but also undermine normal economic and trade cooperation”. China has said it would take countermeasures to “safeguard its own rights and interests”. It is not clear exactly what form these will take yet. But for weeks Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning has said Beijing believes there is no winner in a trade war. \n \nLate Sunday night, Trump said he would speak with Trudeau on Monday morning and shortly after said he would speak with Mexico as well, although he did not specify that he would speak with Sheinbaum. \n \nBeyond the official response, people were already thinking of ways to cope with Trump’s decision, including by sharing suggestions on social media for alternatives to US products. \n \nCanadian hockey fans booed the US national anthem on Saturday night at two National Hockey League games. The booing continued on Sunday at an NBA game in Toronto where the Raptors played the Los Angeles Clippers. \n \nFrom left to right, Toronto Raptors forwards Bruce Brown, Scottie Barnes and Chris Boucher react as fans boo the United States national anthem before NBA basketball game action against the Los Angeles Clippers in Toronto, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP) \nToronto Raptors fans boo US national anthem after Donald Trump tariffs \nRead more \nOne fan at the Raptors game chose to sit during the anthem while wearing a Canada hat. Joseph Chua, who works as an importer, said he expects to feel the tariffs “pretty directly”. “I’ve always stood during both anthems. I’ve taken my hat off to show respect to the American national anthem, but today we’re feeling a little bitter about things,” he said, adding that he will start to avoid buying US products. \n \nIn the streets, people in Mexico were trying to absorb the announcement on Sunday, although some in the capital acknowledged that they were unaware of the measures. \n \nIn the border city of Mexicali, across from Calexico, California, some people were concerned about the wider implications of a trade war. \n \nDriver Alejandro Acosta says that he crosses the border weekly in his truck to deliver vegetables to US companies. He said he fears US businesses in the Mexicali Valley will no longer want to operate in Mexico and they will move to the US. \n \n“If they raise taxes on the factories here, jobs may also decrease,” he said.

There are now quite a few news stories in Canada of immigrants leaving the country - some back home and others to the USA and other places. Many just get a Canadian passport and then leave. There are public health care and pensions, so it can be an asset and also a convenient travel document to have. A lot of Canadian university graduates have a very hard time finding work in their fields and a lot of them look to the US for a better future. Both immigration and unemployment in Canada are much higher that in the US - so more people are chasing fewer jobs that often pay less and are taxed more than in the USA. Opportunities are generally a lot fewer in Canada than the US, and the business environment is not as favourable, and taxes significantly higher. You would be getting some of the entrepreneurs from Canada moving to the US for more favourable conditions as well to launch a business and also now a lot more rich investor types, so-called high net worth individuals wanting to relocate, because they just raised the capital gains tax in Canada. Capital gains is also triggered on inheritance in Canada with a deemed sale of property and assets, so rich people would prefer the American system and want to be residents there for tax purposes and have their assets grow in value in the US compared to Canada. There are very large numbers of foreign students and other categories of immigrants which may have as their goal going to the US after getting a temporary visa to Canada which is easy to get - maybe something like half a million to a million people in those categories depending on the year, plus around another half million regular immigrants and refugees now. The Trudeau administration has increased immigration to record numbers. It has been steadily going up over the years for several decades since 1990. Because of family re-unification it can have a snowball effect and could significantly exceed 1 million per year. A lot of the sending countries have much larger populations than Canada, so there are a lot more that can be potentially sent to Canada in the future. About 1/4 of the population of Canada has been added in the past few decades. Add to that visitors and temporary visas - that is a lot of people potentially moving to the US. Before the 1990s Canadians visiting the US were not required to have a passport and a drivers' license or birth certificate was adequate. Now a passport is required. It is impossible to effectively control the long Canada-US border, so there could be some unified policies in that area agreed on between Canada and the USA on immigration and refugees. Canada currently has a very open immigration policy with the government actively seeking out more immigration beyond its current processing capacity and trying to take rejected immigrants from other countries. The Canadian government, especially in recent years under Trudeau is immigration hungry. It might be the only country in the world doing that. What some news reports are now saying is that some immigrants are actually leaving, since they find it so difficult in Canada and some are worse off than they were in the countries they came from, which were considered to be less developed than Canada. \nWashington currently has more immigration controls and administrative competencies than Ottawa, so US pressure and influence is a faster way to get reforms into the system than waiting for local politicians to do anything, which is unlikely. Canada is seen by some as a backdoor into the US. Biden's immigration policies could be seen as very conservative in Canada compared to Trudeau's. It used to be in the news about how refugees were trying to get to Canada and walking across the border in Quebec and out west from the US earlier, but now there are more news stories of immigrants leaving Canada trying to go the other way, probably due to high costs and unemployment because the government took in more people than it could absorb into the economy. They have the idea that immigration drives GDP growth so that they can borrow and spend more, expand the civil service, etc. without making any cutbacks or efficiencies, supposedly without the Debt to GDP ratio getting worse, just by bringing in more people as if that would drive the economy. A lot depends on who you bring in as well. Are they going to go on welfare, are they going to increase crime, will they somehow contribute to society, are they a net tax benefit or cost in terms of government services, will they invest money, will they start a business and create jobs for others ? Those issues do not factor into government decision making in Canada for the most part. Ontario Premier Doug Ford did say there were too many foreign students. It is bad planning not to consider those factors since there are other costs that grow with those policies as well, and infrastructure has to be expanded. I think that the real immigration numbers to Canada are not transparent or made public, nor are the costs involved, if anyone even knows what they are. Nor is the impact on crime. You can guess from what the reports are in other countries. The Fraser Institute has made some estimates on the net costs of immigration to the government budget a few years ago, which were very high and which by now have increased - the cost equivalent of several new aircraft carriers each year. They are big numbers which are not publicized, but it amounts to the fact that immigration is subsidized by the taxpayers in Canada and it is not paying for our pensions as an ageing society as has been claimed. There is less money for education, health care and pensions per person, and those social benefits will probably have to be reduced over time. Social programs can only be delivered to the extent that the government has money. The bigger social system a county has, the more such immigration policies are going to cost. Trudeau has been expanding various social programs as well, so higher taxes and debt are likely with that approach. Then more productive people and companies will want to leave Canada and go to the US. Probably the government does not know what the actual numbers and costs are and doesn't actively keep track of that information beyond what is required. Probably nobody knows what the true immigration figures and their associated costs are in Canada, and hardly anyone has even studied those issues. If they can just walk across the US border and get papers so easily making an asylum claim, it is not surprising, since it would take them longer to get a regular visa and work permit if they did it legally. You could call that a loophole in the US immigration system which is being exploited. The US is better governed in general and has a better system in many ways, but I am not sure if it is the same on that. People have arrived on boats and have not been sent back. At least in the US you have more open information about those issues. In Canada it is hard to find out anything about it. Deportations from Canada are very few. \nOn other issues in Canada when voting in federal elections you have to show a government issued photo ID like a drivers' license or passport to vote and bring a card that was mailed out to eligible voters that gets updated addresses when a person files their taxes. I have never heard of mail-in ballots in Canada, but there are remote areas of the country in the far north who may have special system for voting. It is easier to get a Canadian citizenship than US and many more citizenships are handed out in Canada each year in proportion to the population than in the US. Canadian might be one of the easiest citizenships to get in the world. The official line now is that it is a country of immigrants. Based on current trends, will very little opposition to it in the parliament and most MPs supporting it, future immigration to Canada could increase to several million per year because of the rapid growth of population in the world, and the momentum already growing of immigration to Canada, so it may change significantly in the future. Historically around the world you can see many examples that country names, borders, flags and languages change over time with population changes, so it might not be called Canada anymore in 50-100 years. For example, Bulgaria used to be called Thrace which had been a powerful kingdom in antiquity and had a different language which is barely known about anymore. Over the past 2,000 years it has gone through a number of changes and had various regimes governing it, has been independent and also part of several different empires. Canada has only been a country for a short time in comparison and has been been going through significant changes. Trudeau has said that Canada is a post-national country. Canada is also going through a period of critical self-examination and deconstruction-revisionism. A lot of what had been viewed as positive from its history now is seen more critically, with re-naming and removing historical figures now seen as negative.\nDiscussing immigration policy critically is considered by many to be taboo in Canada, unless a person is saying good things about it in general. You can hear people say that the government isn't processing enough people, for example, but not often that there are too many or that it costs a lot of money. The trend of migration from Canada to the US would only increase much more in the future as it is going currently, and its role as a stepping stone to migration to the US could increase. The way this would be seen by many in Canada is that they are losing valuable people to the USA whom they consider assets, since a lot of officials have been trying to bring in more people into the country, but not everyone wants to stay in Canada nowadays because of a lack of jobs and opportunities. Canada is quite laissez-faire about migration, with Toronto being a sanctuary city as well.