The nameless price of tariff 

That is the setting as I see it, beside the economic sides that apparently tariff never ever work in your favour, unless you have something the others do not, it is doomed for failure. So when I took notice of CBC’s ‘LeBlanc, U.S. counterpart meeting again after Canada displeased with latest tariff offer’ (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trade-tariff-talks-canada-us-canada-dominic-leblanc-jamieson-greer-9.7305811) where we see “The two sides have ramped up discussions since Trump threatened to impose 50 per cent duties on hundreds of Canadian goods, on top of sectoral tariffs already in place. Those tariffs are slated to come into effect Aug. 19.” And it makes me wonder if Canada really needs the United States. In my (massively limited) economic knowledge there is another side to all this. Could Canada switch what the United States need by selling that to other Commonwealth Nations, with optional sides sold to the EU and Japan? And add to that to deny the United States access to power and water? Because that is the mess that the United States is calling over themselves. Consider what mess the United States gets when power is denied to New York State, Minnesota and Michigan when it runs out of power before August 31st. What will the United States do then? And it is not the first time we hear that, because Premier of Ontario Doug Ford gave that option in March 2025 and perhaps he has the right notion, so whilst power is either shutdown or tariffed at 50% (I am of the mind that it should get an additional 50% surcharge on the 50% return tariff making it 75%) I reckon that the population of the United States will not be happy with their power prices getting close to doubled and I reckon that winter in the United States will massively suck at that point.

But these are not all the marbles as I see them. You see, FirstPost gave us mere hours ago ‘US flags India, EU, Canada among 40+ countries at risk of helping China evade Trump’s tariffs’ where we see “The Trump administration has identified more than 40 economies as potential transshipment risks and plans to use artificial intelligence to detect goods allegedly rerouted through third countries to avoid US tariffs.” (at https://www.firstpost.com/world/us-flags-india-eu-canada-among-40-countries-at-risk-of-helping-china-evade-trumps-tariffs-14038042.html), so as I see it, was my idea to sell to each other whilst shipments to the United States are set to zero? Let them sort its out themselves. No power, no goods and no services, all whilst we are already stomping down on the Cloud Act. Implying that the United States could never survive becoming 100% self sufficient and whilst these MAGA buffoons are show a realistic view on what happens when their big beautiful bankruptcy comes calling. So whilst Argentina and Bangladesh are ramping up trade using the Chinese Yuan, more will follow and the end of the dollar as the one global currency, so as we see nations selecting bilateral trade and foreign reserves to bypass the U.S. dollar we see a pool of nations that are considering this too. So whilst American bankers are dead scared of this and trying all kinds of channels and YouTube influencers making waves through statements like “No, the Chinese yuan is not going to replace the U.S. dollar as the world’s primary reserve currency anytime soon” and here is the real news. Five nations are already doing this and whilst there is some truth in “China limits the free flow of money across its borders to maintain economic stability. Global central banks cannot hold large reserves of a currency that is not fully and freely convertible” it only takes one Beijing meeting to open that door to one central point like the European Central Bank and that would open up the Yuan to the 27 member nations (they would have to go through the European Central Bank) but that is the next phase to this caper and it is only one meeting away from becoming a reality and that is what Wall Street fears, because the dollar would get devaluated from a near one on one to the Euro, to a setting it faces when it becomes a yen setting where 185 dollars gets you one euro and the American administration did this to its own population. So is this realistic? 

Well, that is the question, because I raised this to a degree in my story which I wrote on December 17th 2025 in ‘The neighbors have coffee’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2025/12/17/the-neighbors-have-coffee/) and you’ll have to read between the lines to see this. So as I see it, the United States is making the most serious enemies out there and Canada will be given options, because we like the economic splendour of Mark Carney (a bank governor turned Prime Minister) a lot more than we do the bully of the White House. And nations are voicing this much more clearly now. So when we consider the FirstPost setting of “Navarro said the White House is working with US Customs and Border Protection on an AI-enabled system designed to identify potentially rerouted shipments. The proposed technology would analyse information including shipping records, cargo routes and historical routing patterns to determine whether goods entering the US may have been transshipped.” And the hidden setting applies here. There is no AI, there is mere Machine Language and it is powerful, but it requires data and when others start evading the United States and merely deal with others, that system becomes useless almost immediately. We have no need to supply shipment papers to someone we’re not shipping to. That is the flaw in their thinking. That is the other side of transshipping, it allows for shipping to another nation all together. So, whilst harbour locations lose revenue and incomes, power is redirected to other locations, that formerly know as a big beautiful country is now becoming hollow, empty and that leaves Wall Street with nothing and a massively devaluated dollar. 

That is the setting some fought against, but there came to President of the United States opening his mouth again and the world seemingly has had enough. And I get that this is mere the darkest nightmare in doom speak, but consider how many of these points are out there? What is to happen when some of these people actually start what they considered in the past? What happens when the Commonwealth selects its brother (Canada) over the United States? We always relied on the United States when it was there, but we can no longer do that. It has a debt of 40 trillion now, it has a depleted and warped sense of military power and while we take these two in consideration, the United States with its BS tariff setting in now no longer the preferred ‘friend’ because that is what they are, a not so welcome acquaintance at a dinner party. That guest sitting down in any place is then regarded the loser table. And that is the reality of it all. The United States are no longer the highly regarded party in any given stage, Canada is and several nations see that. 

So whilst we see (in the CBC article) “The Americans are also seeking a deal that would see preferential access to Canadian critical minerals and which covers security and energy, the sources said.” They gave away their achilles heel. They need the critical minerals and energy, which is exactly what we can deny them. Their mention of security is merely a dose of Sweet ’n Low, but that is also the dangerous setting because the sweeteners of the United States are set to potential health concerns for Canada. And whilst we consider that Doug Ford is open to put American booze back on the shelf, he knows that this is merely an empty gesture, because Canadians no longer accept this as an option. So it stays on the shelf, never to be sold. 

A small but important distinction, so as we tally (a skill some American business lost, for that see yesterday’s article) the results. We need to consider that treating the United States as the pariah (a setting they used on China in 2018) is starting to take shape we also see ABC News giving us ‘100,000 sign petition to declare US ambassador to Canada persona non grata’ which is another step towards isolation. My darkest nightmare doesn’t sound so implausible anymore, does it?

Have a great day today and especially to our brothers and sisters in Canada.