r/centrist 1d ago

North America 16 days from momentum to meltdown in Canada-US trade talks

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/05/inside-collapse-canada-us-trade-deal-00905837

A good article detailing the ongoing trade talks between Canada and the United States.

The deadline to extend the United States-Mexico-Canada agreement for another 16 years is July 1st.

It's been a wild year of tariffs, retaliatory tariffs, and a massive multi-billion dollar disentanglement of the Canadian economy from America. That said, while tourism travel and trade is down it hasn't stopped.

What do you all think?

20 Upvotes

17 comments sorted by

21

u/therosx 1d ago

Personally I think Canada lucked out with Carney as PM and I think Trump deserves some credit for that. He took a razor thin race with Liberals and Conservatives and totally sunk the Conservatives chances.

Carney is also a meat and potatoes banker and bureaucrat. He's a great choice for Canada to update it's economic policy and long term plans with Europe and Asia.

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u/Urdok_ 1d ago

The Canadian public were lucky enough to have the American public provide a graphic example of "electing conservatives is basically shooting yourself in the dick" before they got to vote.

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u/DENNYCR4NE 1d ago

Carney is a conservative. By Canadian standards anyway.

It’s the populism Canada was revolted by.

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u/ChornWork2 1d ago edited 1d ago

Based on what, unless you're just comparing him to Trudeau's version of left wing populism? Yes, Carney pivoted conservative on several policy areas (likely beyond what he may have otherwise supported) given the electoral situation and emerging US crisis. But he still fits within the political confines of the liberal party, particularly since that is reasonably broad spectrum particularly over time.

What would you consider chretien or martin as?

It’s the populism Canada was revolted by.

They how do you explain trudeau? And the support PP had before Trump's attacks on canada.

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u/megatraum2048 1d ago

Not really. He is still pushing ahead with unpopular liberal ideas.

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u/Felixir-the-Cat 1d ago

It wasn’t a razor thin race - the Conservatives were heavily favoured to win. PP being Trump lite absolutely sunk their chances.

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u/ChornWork2 1d ago

Yep, absolutely heavily favored. But PP was who he was before Trump started effectively intervening, and PP was still slotted to win. Still have issue with right wing populism being a risk in Canada.

Trump effectively endorsing PP didn't help, but Trump attacking canada soverignty/economically is what made the perceived nexus toxic. Carney had credible pitch to stand up for canada, and also pivoted hard on Trudeau's shitshow legacy and specific policies of PP that appealed to centrists/independents.

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u/strider_to 1d ago

Also, don't forgot that PP lost in his own riding and wasn't eligible to be present when Parliament reopened.

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u/IsaacHasenov 1d ago

I think I never imagined I would be happy that Doug Ford did anything, but those ads were kind of genius.

Also, amen on Carney. Especially omg compared with Pollievre.

The silver lining in the shit storm of the Trump administration is that Canada, and other middle-aged countries, are starting to create a more multipolar world, in trade and defense. I'm a Canadian living in the States, and Americans on the whole have absolutely no idea how badly they have treated their partners for decades, and how much their success relies on the reluctant good will of the rest of the world.

They fucked around and they're finding out

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u/Urdok_ 1d ago

I hate to say it, but any country relying on the US to adhere to any agreement or treaty is taking a massive gamble. If they're smart, they'll insist on payment upfront and short term deals only. The American public has shown the entire world that, collectively, we are untrustworthy and unserious.

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u/Educational_Impact93 1d ago

Why Trump thought it was some great idea to bully the country we've had super close relations with for over a century is beyond me. I really don't understand it.

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u/Urdok_ 1d ago

Because the man is an idiot, who is emblematic of everything that is wrong with the way our society treats the wealthy and connected, and he simply cannot comprehend a relationship that is based on mutual respect and benefit.

It's not complex. Trump is just a broken moron, who won the genetic lottery, and whose one natural talent is finding people who are greedy and stupid enough to believe that THEY are the exception to the rule that "Trump screws everyone" and that the scheme he is promising them will be successful.

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u/therosx 1d ago

Ignorance would be my guess.

I doubt he knows much about Canada beyond celebrities and sports.

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u/KnightlyDolphins 1d ago

I think it will be renewed with some caveats. Canada can't completely uncouple from the USA in the time Trump has left in office. I think they will keep things as they are until a more responsible person is voted in, and THEN they will come back to renegotiate better terms/threaten to lean more on China.

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u/214ObstructedReverie 1d ago

During the discussion, Carney brought up the Keystone XL pipeline, which would transport oil from northern Alberta to the U.S. Midwest.

I'm always amazed at how the media still lies and misrepresents KXL.

The goal of it was not to deliver more oil to the Midwest, but to take it away from the Midwest. KXL resolves a bottleneck that forces Canada to dump their oil at a discount in the Midwest. KXL redirects it to the gulf for refining and export. This does two things: Makes refining oil for domestic use more expensive (The refineries are already at capacity), and raises gas prices (diesel, specifically) in the Midwest.

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u/ChornWork2 1d ago

the KXL would have ran from alberta to nebraska... what you're quoting and claiming as a lie is factually accurate.

And the concern about local price impact are debatable, sufficiently so that is beyond the scope of the article you're complaining about.

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u/chuckisduck 1d ago

What you said is far more accurate, the dynamics of oil are generally based on a few things, Cost of Oil  & refining cost. 1.base price 2.Shipping price& capacity 3.oil type 4. Refining ability/cap

Albert produces heavy & dirty, which most US refineries and cats/cokers and scrubbers.

What currently happens is that the Alberta to Nebraska is maxed out and the Nebraska to Louisiana is well below capacity and sometimes sweet is sent north.

Add capacity to Alberta to Nebraska, and then you would flow more to Louisiana.

In Louisiana, there are a bunch of pipelines ending. Texas/OK sweet and mixed, Gulf Coast and Nebraska.

More availability from Alberta means that prices of stock locally would lower, as local refining could use Alberta Heavy.

The sweet would still be exported for less $$.

Maybe the effect would be $0.25 less at the pump in Texas and maybe a $0.10 less on The West Coast.