A couple of points to note:
Trade between the US and Canada is already fairly balanced. US data show a slight trade surplus with Canada. Canadian data show a slight trade surplus with the US. It comes down to methodology to calculate the goods AND services being traded like how do you count goods imported from China to Canada and then forwarded on into the US. But in terms of the huge amount of trade between the US and Canada, it's already a fairly balanced score so there shouldn't need to be significant changes to re-level the playing field. Any changes to say NAFTA should be done to modernize it. Eg It was originally introduced in the early 90's when the Internet was in its infancy.
Dairy is protected in Canada and I agree it's a valid trade complaint. We have a supply management system where farmers are given quotas in return for price certainty. Consumers pay more but ensures the dairy industry stays on solid footing. NAFTA allowed for countries to take certain items off the table, like dairy or conversely like softwood lumber which the US has significant duties/tariffs on.
However, note that dairy is a small component of the overall trade between the US and Canada and that the US still exports more dairy to Canada than Canada to the US. I suspect more dairy access will eventually be allowed as part of the negotiations.
The path the trade war is going down isn't going to stop trade with the US but basically force countries to start building closer trade ties to China. By closing off trade, the US is basically allowing its influence to diminish. China is already starting to develop equivalent international organizations like the IMF.
IMO, the US and the western world have overall, greatly benefited with the current structure with constantly improving living standards. The problem is that segments of the economy have been impacted by evolving technology (automation, AI, etc) and changing standards (eg. Moving away from fossil fuels) and not enough of the benefits have been directed to support the folks in the impacted industries/towns.
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Good Riddance. April 2022
"Yes, there's some shady stuff going down but it's fuelled by stupidity."
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