Wednesday, February 1, 2017

More Trump troubles loom

There are more Trump troubles on the horizon.

As foolish as his immigration-throttling moves have been, he can do much more.

Canadian farmers and food processors have worried about Trump's promise to renogotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), but that's not nearly as big a threat as his campaign rhetoric about pulling out of the World Trade Organization if he can't meet his goal of bringing overseas businesses and jobs back to the United States.

He can pull out of NAFTA with six months notice. He can pull out of the World Trade Organization almost as fast. Yes, he will eventually require approval from the politicians in the Senate, but so far they've been intimidated by his bullying.

Among the threats then will be huge tariffs - he talks about 20 per cent on imports from Mexico and tariffs on vehicles assembled in other countries - and a return of Country of Origin Labeling which gives U.S. livestock farmers a decided competitive advantage over Canadians.

Who knows what he might try to attack supply management or anything else that annoys him?

I am puzzled by his promise to require an end to two regulations for every new one bureaucrats and politicians intend to implement.

Regulations are presumably in place to correct evils that have been experienced in the marketplace and society, so by what logic do you dismantle regulations as some simple arithmetic formula?

Trump holds a lot of trump cards, and unfortunately the stakes are far higher than any game of cards.