The real play here is he wants jobs back from Mexico and Canada, but it's almost impossible to do this.
the tariffs may /may not work
they are likely the stick used to
- get attention (he does have an ego)
- Get the border secured
- wake up the trade partners - we were not ready for a trade war
- to be determined- he is unpredictable
His taxation / regulation polices are likely to be far more effective at stealing jobs over the long haul
Here are some back of the envelope # ( nit picking at a value is really a waste of time- its a relative comparison )
| Canada (we shall put it first) | USA |
| Total tax burden on workforce (income tax, sales tax, property tax) | 46.1% | 24.7% |
| % of workforce in Govt | 20.1% | 13.3% |
| GDP per capita (USD) | 53 K | 81 K |
| Effective Corporate tax rate | 15% | 21% |
| payroll taxes | similar | similar |
| Public debt per capita Federal & Provincial | 60K (Ontario) | 104 K |
He wants to lower the corporate tax rate (say to 10%), shrink the size of govt (Elon Musk) & eliminate regulation
capital, companies, production and many very bright people will flow from Canada to the USA
while Trudeau / Carney plan to shift the carbon tax onto companies and keep expanding the government/ add new regulations
Like or hate Trump , he is going to change the rules of the competitive game
you may not like musk or be appalled at his methods, however I believe he will shrink their govt
Canadians do not want to become the 51 first state , that is not an option.
so we will need to compete to keep jobs, capital, companies and bright people north of the border
We will lose that game with Trudeau / Carney
We simply can not compete when 1 in 5 members of the work force are employed by govt, the govts grabbing 46% of our earnings and more burdens placed on our companies
the % workforce in govt and tax grab on citizens are unsustainable (insane actually) to begin with and absolutely impossible to be competitive with
