"Canada at risk of sinking in Trump's political tsunami"
Neighbouring nations Canada and the US head into an economic storm caused by the US election.
By
Antonia Zerbisias
@AntoniaZ
Antonia Zerbisias is an award-winning Canadian journalist. She has been a reporter and TV host for the Toronto Star, the CBC, as well as the Montreal correspondent for Variety trade paper.
Antonia offers some FACTS about trade which may not matter to President-elect Donald Trump. But here's some of what she wrote.
"Canada creates jobs in the US
While it is true that Canada now exports more to the United States than it imports - a difference of about $20bn a year - it sends south much-needed resources that help keep the few American manufacturing jobs left in the US.
Not that the president-elect would notice, given how much of Trump's business is offshore.
Our softwood lumber helps keep American housing affordable. Our hydro provides electrical power. We are the largest supplier of oil and natural gas to the US, ahead of Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.
What's more, many of the "Rust Belt states" that voted for Trump are the very same states that would suffer just as much as Canada if Trump were to tear up NAFTA. Consider Ohio, where Trump trounced Hillary Clinton. More than 300,000 jobs there depend on Canada-US trade and investment.
In fact, nine million jobs throughout the US result from Canada-US trade and investment.
This is why former democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean cautioned: "What's hurt our economy much more than NAFTA is the gross failure of us to redistribute wealth properly."
It is possible that Trump wasn't briefed on all this. On the other hand, it's possible that he was - and just didn't care. After all, what did facts matter in his "post-truth" campaign to win the White House?"
"Trump Trade Plan Could Push U.S. into Recession, Study Says"
Imposing stiff tariffs on China and Mexico could cost 5 million U.S. jobs, Peterson Institute says
ByBob DavisBob Davis
The Wall Street Journal
Sept. 19, 2016 12:01 a.m. ET
http://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-trade-plan-could-push-u-s-into-recession-study-says-1474257662
More FACTS vs MYTHS - if you care even a little, you need to go to this link and read the facts about international trade, and what a poorly informed Donald Trump can do to our economy if he tries to do the things he has said he wants to do.
http://www.ontheissues.org/2016/Donald_Trump_Free_Trade.htm
FactCheck: yes, Ford plant in Mexico, but no U.S. job cuts Trump said, "Ford is leaving; their small-car division leaving. Thousands of jobs leaving Michigan, leaving Ohio." Trump's statement about Ford is partly true and partly false.Ford is moving production of the Ford Focus and Ford C-Max from its Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne to Mexico in 2018. Ford said in April it plans to invest $1.6 billion to build a new plant in Mexico and create 2,800 jobs to build small cars there. However, Ford also plans to replace the products it makes in Wayne with two new vehicles and has repeatedly said no jobs will be lost. Ford's CEO said that "zero" jobs will be lost in the US and said "it is really unfortunate when politics get in the way of the facts."
Trumps' comments also prompted tweets from both Ford and the UAW countering Trump's claims. The automaker also made a commitment in November to invest $9 billion in U.S. plants and creates or retains more than 8,500 jobs as part of a new four-year contract with the UAW.
Source: Chicago Tribune Fact-check on First 2016 Presidential Debate , Sep 27, 2016
FactCheck: NAFTA reduced U.S. jobs by 1%, not 30% or 50%
Trump said, "You go to New England, Ohio, Pennsylvania, you go anywhere you want, Secretary Clinton, and you will see devastation where manufacturing is down 30, 40, sometimes 50 percent. NAFTA is the worst trade deal maybe ever signed anywhere but certainly ever signed in this country."
Bloomberg Fact check: NAFTA had a modest effect on manufacturing jobs. An Economic Policy Institute analysis says manufacturing jobs dropped in the 1990s from 17.9 million to 17.6 million.
Trump said of Hillary, "She's been doing this for 30 years. And why hasn't she made the agreements better? The NAFTA agreement is defective," [implying that Hillary and Bill Clinton held primary responsibility for NAFTA]. Chicago Tribune fact-checkers noted that while NAFTA was signed by former U.S. President Bill Clinton, it was largely negotiated under the administration of George H.W. Bush.
Source: Bloomberg News Fact-check on First 2016 Presidential Debate , Sep 27, 2016
FactCheck: No, VATs are not tariffs against US exports
Trump said, "Mexico has a VAT tax. When we sell into Mexico, there's a tax, automatic, 16 percent. When they sell into us, there's no tax." Trump has never mentioned VATs before. Yesterday an economist at UC Irvine released a report analyzing Trump's economic plan and taking aim at VAT taxes. [But that's not how VATs work].
When a company in Germany makes goods to sell at home, it has to pay the VAT. But if it makes them to sell in the US, it doesn't--the tax gets waived at the border. If a US company sells in Germany, it does have to pay the VAT. [The UC Irvine] interpretation is that] border adjustability turns the VAT into an "implicit export subsidy" for foreign companies and an "implicit tariff" on US exporters. This is just dead wrong. Everybody has to pay Germany's VAT when they're selling goods in Germany. Nobody has to pay Germany's VAT when they're selling goods outside of Germany.
You can't really blame Trump for this one: a guy with a PhD in economics fed this stuff to him.
Source: Mother Jones Fact-check on First 2016 Presidential Debate , Sep 27, 2016
Be aware! Beware!
