EXCLUSIVE: Hoekstra tells closed-door meeting Canada could be blamed if U.S. midterms go against Trump

In the final days of the most recent round of Canada-U.S. trade talks this summer, a deal seemed almost inevitable. Trump was publicly declaring the deal was all but done, while Carney acknowledged substantial progress. Behind the scenes, the Americans appeared convinced that Canada simply could not afford to say “no.” People close to the American negotiating team later told me that U.S. officials were genuinely stunned when Carney walked away. They assumed our country was so dependent on the United States that we would accept an agreement at almost any cost. It simply had not occurred to them that Canadians might be willing to endure economic pain to protect our sovereignty—or how much pain the U.S. would inflict on itself. 

Because Maine shares “a long history with Canada, and intertwined both family and business relationships, I think there are a lot of ways in which we are potentially being hurt even more” by the tariff impact, Martin told AFP.

Canadian visits to Maine plunged 43 per cent in the tariffs’ first year, depressing shop sales and tax revenue, he said.

And in Maine’s US$8-billion forest-related industry, “we’re seeing cost increases ripple through,” with some logging operations shrinking or shuttering altogether, Martin said.

Logging has been in a slump for years, with eight pulp and paper mills closing in Maine since 2012, according to Dana Doran, executive director of the Professional Logging Contractors of the Northeast (PLC).

Now tariffs on trucks, logging equipment, parts and wood products are sending prices “up 30 to 50 per cent across the board,” Doran told AFP.

High diesel costs have only darkened the scenario.

A recent online survey conducted by Angus Reid for NextDoor Canada shows a majority of Canadians are on the same page as Wisniewski.

The survey shows 59 per cent of Canadians say it’s a priority to support local or Canadian businesses when shopping for or celebrating Halloween, from pumpkins picked at nearby farms to costumes from neighbourhood shops and treats from local bakeries.

That number is higher in Saskatchewan and Manitoba at 68 per cent, and 69 per cent in Atlantic Canada.

[…] VW Group Works Council President Daniela Cavallo has sharply criticized the appearance of Audi CEO Gernot Döllner at a campaign event hosted by US President Donald Trump. »Several minutes of racism, sexism, defamation of foreigners, transphobia, contempt for democracy –and then one of our top corporate representatives takes the stage and actively campaigns«, Cavallo said in an internal interview.

Anyone who heard Trump's speech and had to realize that Döllner had become an active part of this event must sink into the ground before »shame«. […]

[…] According to Cavallo, the appearance also contradicts Audi's internal guidelines. In the last three months before elections, public appointments with politicians running for election are prohibited.[…]

A single figure sets Venezuela apart from the rest of the world: 303 billion barrels of so-called proven oil reserves. But experts say the country’s estimate is inherently problematic and far from proven — rooted in exaggerated, aging data from a corrupt government.

The number has long been touted by politicians and investors as an important measure of untapped energy potential, most recently by President Donald Trump’s administration in detailing a sweeping deal for the U.S. to take control of some Venezuelan reserves.

But a more realistic estimate of the country’s proven reserves — a gold standard metric, representing the amount of oil that can reasonably be extracted under current conditions — is about one-third of what it has reported, half a dozen experts told The Associated Press. They put the likely figure at 60 to 120 billion barrels, a vast amount but not enough for Venezuela to remain the world’s largest holder of reserves.

The distinction is an important one as Venezuela and the U.S. attempt to attract new investment into the country’s dilapidated oil industry, and it suggests that the deal Trump announced in August claiming the U.S. would ultimately control more than 65 billion barrels of Venezuela’s proven oil reserves is much less profitable than he asserted.

Trump has said that under the deal, the U.S. will control 65 billion barrels of proven reserves — a figure exceeding the entirety of U.S. crude reserves. He’s repeatedly cited the 65 billion barrels number and called the oil deal the biggest in history, a way to refill U.S. strategic reserves and lower gas prices that surged during the Iran war.

But experts say the U.S. is gaining access to a mix of sites that are nearly depleted or totally undeveloped, with an expected output a fraction of what Trump claimed. Some of the oil fields are deep within the Orinoco Belt, a virtual wilderness in central-eastern Venezuela posing major technical challenges.

This failing company decided investing in the failing US to make trump happy would be a good idea.

Failure -prone cars already and now they should be boycotted.

Something I've had to explain to far too many people recently: any money injected into the american economy is directly aiding the orange toddler and his pals.

His approval rating relies on economic performance, among other things. If you give them your money by purchasing products (regardless of the political stance of the company), you are improving american economic performance, which makes him look better.

The better he looks, the longer this lasts. The only way we'll be rid of him is if the american populace at large feels the economic pain. They won't do a thing until it hurts their pocketbooks. Look how many rabidly supported him until they had to pay through the nose for diesel. They're fine with war crimes until it makes them suffer.

This is why even a single cent is too much. The "do what you can" attitude is a cop out, either you care enough to put forth the effort to find an alternative (or do without), or you don't.

For my fellow Canadians, you would be actively enriching the very people who are putting thousands of your fellow citizens out of work. I wonder how you would feel if it was your job on the line? Would you be ok with other Canadians sending their money to a hostile nation then?

You can do without. If there's a product you can't find a non-american alternative for, then you don't need it unless it's a life-saving medication or treatment. Everything else is just want, not a need. I have spent almost two years doing without a great many things, and I'm just fine. I've found other media to watch and I've saved a ton of money not buying crap I didn't need in the first place.

It may be a cliche, but it's true when they say that the only thing required for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.

Havana is urging Ottawa not to drop its public opposition to the decades-long U.S. embargo as Washington ramps up pressure on countries supporting Cuba.

President Donald Trump promised that his tariff policies would make the country richer and would bring in enough revenue to eliminate the need for income tax and to pay down the country’s debt.

Instead, Trump voters in Michigan told MS NOW they feel poorer, as income tax is still on the books and the national debt has soared to $40 trillion.

Suppressing democracy and extracting resources at the expense of its people

The U.S. is removing the 50 per cent tariffs on certain Canadian products as the trade war with Canada becomes a ballot box issue in key races ahead of November’s midterm election.

Maine Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican, said nine categories of Canadian exports will be exempted from tariffs, including corrugated paper, plastic boxes and several types of machinery important to her state’s agricultural industries.