bush_cheney2004

I already gave China 5,000 years....China's GDP is more dependent on exports to the USA....GDP per capita is far smaller because of the large population. The USA has been #1 regardless of China....over 100 years. China can't even figure out Hong Kong.

America did both at the same time....China can't. China cannot project conventional military power beyond its region...America has done this since the 19th century. Advantage: America China is over 5,000 years old and has succeeded / failed many times over regardless of population. The 20th century failure(s) cost millions of Chinese lives, and it was the Americans who took care of a mid-century problem with the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy....China's population was over 500 million compared to Japan's 65 million. The USA's population is 330 million and it is the world's #1 destination for immigrants...for over 100 years...not China. They did their homework.

A China vs. USA bait thread ? OK...I'll bite Incorrect...there is an ideology in China...mimic what the USA did in the 20th century. I have seen it myself...in person. ...and "good stuff" healthcare is accessible by millions in the USA through private and public insurance programs, not just the wealthy. Healthcare in China is ranked 144th in the world, with wide disparities for the most basic services. China sends its best students to the USA....there is a reason for this.

New Jersey Democrat is defecting to the Republican Party because of impeachment..."in your face" Nancy Pelosi !

OK...but those same voters can choose to go in a different direction, and will do so when pressured by lower living standards, illegal immigration, regional disparities, curtailed liberties, etc. Union membership is now dominated by government workers, not industry employment. Trump used the only unilateral tool available to him as president, same as many other nations have done, including Canada. As for rules based clarity and conformance, all nations would also be expected to pay up for the protection of that order, something that Trump has also exposed as a club wherein some members pay a lot more than others.

True, but it does not have the same impact as Canadian export trade to mostly the USA (75%), not to mention the reliance on foreign direct investment. China is also important to the USA because of federal debt holdings, about 25% of all foreign held debt (about $1.3 trillion). Like Canada, China wants access to the big fat American consumer and business market, and U.S. corps want access to the Chinese market as well. Canada does not have the size/scale to take on China, nor should it be expected to do so. But it is less helpful for Canadian leadership to inject virtue signaling and progressive touch points into the process when it does choose to engage. Might be good for some votes back home...until the jobs start leaving.

I understand your proposal, but I do not think a North American-centric framework would be accepted by other nations and trading blocs. Many producers and wholeasle distributors in Canada and the USA are more than happy to take advantage of developing economies complete with work arounds for "progressive" rules. Even within the EU there are numerous battles and carve outs for longstanding national protections...that's what made CETA take so long. I have worked directly with the Chinese and their objectives/methods do not place a high priority on progressive western ideas. They are singularly focused with longer time horizons than western quarterly earnings reports. Some may not like the Chinese approach, but it works for China.

I don't think anybody, including Trump, expected China to be abandoned. What Trump wanted to do was challenge the existing lopsided approach to imports and balance of trade, and not just for China. Canada was just another battle in the trade war...it wasn't personal. Hell, many in Canada criticized the FTA/NAFTA in the first place because it meant exactly what has happened for the sucking sound to Mexico and elsewhere. Canada is more dependent on export trade than China or the USA, so it is more alarming to have existing trade flows interrupted. China became the USA's #1 trading partner a few years ago, and both nations are far more diversified for export trade compared to Canada, and can weather the storm far easier.

Which is exactly why it won't work for many developing economies...such "rules" would conflict with many practical realities on the ground. Also, the large trading block that you envision would have members with very different export trade dependencies and global logistics flow. Different parts of the world have disparate priorities and limits, making it very difficult to adopt a high order, progressive economic model. There is a saying in Africa that trumps the best intentions of well-off do-gooders from the west...."If it pays...it stays". China has specifically targeted this reality and opportunity.

Really ? Then why did Canada get so excited about Trump's tariffs on Canada ? Why did the threat of tariffs on Ontario automotive bring Freeland to her knees ? Why did Canada scramble after Trump abandoned the TPP and Paris Climate Agreement ? Trump challenged the NAFTA status quo too, exposing the protectionist policies in some Canadian sectors, and highlighting the very stupid inter-provincial trade barriers that cost Canadians more. Then there is China....my oh my....Trump sure messed that up for Canada too. ...not too shabby for a foreign "gas bag".

Sounds good in theory, but not a practical solution for all trading economies, stage of development, commodities, closed sectors (like Canadian banking), IP theft, transshipments, dumping, etc. Do you really think Canada would stop trade with the United States if the U.S. failed to meet such standards ?

Hey, it's all good and fun to trade "butt-hurts". Trump makes it even more so.

Either people have the right to make a choice...or they don't. Can't shame them into giving up their rights to their own bodies, a common argument for abortions on demand. I am not sure as of 2019, but Canada was the only G7 nation without a national vaccination injury compensation program.

Not just Conservatives....the lefties and tree huggers want it too for climate change, human rights, abortions, open borders, etc. That's the FEAR....the U.S. can really go rogue and Canada has no back-up plan.

That's the irony of it all....Canada wants the old USA back...before Trump, even though it was just as hostile at many levels.