Liberals’ lead shrinks as Canadian mood plummets to historic lows (www.hilltimes.com)

submitted 1 day ago by Worstdriver@lemmy.world to c/canada@lemmy.ca

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[-] ikidd@lemmy.world 13 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago)

Counter-tariffs just raise prices here. They were a terrible idea to start with, just like tariffs are in general. The digital services tax was on its way out even before Trump was elected. China likes kicking people when they're down so we got restrictions on ag products just to twist the knife.

Plenty of reasons to be pissed off with the Liberals, but those aren't some of them.

[-] BCBoy911@lemmy.ca 14 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago)

Counter-tariffs just raise prices here. They were a terrible idea to start with, just like tariffs are in general

No they aren't, blanket tariffs the way Trump is doing it is stupid, but counter-tariffs on American products that can be replaced with made-in-Canada products works and helps keep jobs in Canada.

The digital services tax was on its way out even before Trump was elected

This is also wrong... the Digital Services tax was introduced as a Liberal priority all the way back in 2020 and passed in 2024. It probably would have been repealed by Pollievre if he won, but Liberals repealing their own years-in-the-making policy, a day before going into effect as an act of appeasement to Donald Trump was definitely not inevitable.

China likes kicking people when they’re down so we got restrictions on ag products just to twist the knife.

Their tariffs on us are counter-tariffs in response to us imposing a 100% tax on Chinese-made solar panels.

[-] ikidd@lemmy.world 2 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago)

counter-tariffs on American products that can be replaced with made-in-Canada products works and helps keep jobs in Canada.

Well, you and I and most economists will have to disagree about how tariffs "work". The local industries they were supposedly protecting either don't exist or actively dislike tariffs that are supposed to help them. Because a falling tide sinks all boats. Tariffs are inflationary, end of message.

Repealing or delaying the DST was part of the OECD treaty obligations that most of the other countries involved had been doing since it was set up in 2021 with the revamping of the multinational tax treaties. Maybe Trump's bullshit was the nail in the coffin, but it sure wasn't the first and they just followed the other 140 countries involved that shut that down last year if they even still had them.

And solar panels have had the 165% tariff (not 100%) from China on them since sometime in the mid teens (https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/sima-lmsi/mif-mev/sml-eng.html) and we see the incredible effect that has had on the growth of our burgeoning home-grown solar panels industry in Canada, have we not? Because tariffs work, amirite? I hate this tariff with a passion because I'm entirely offgrid and have tried to jump through all the hoops to get my panels at the prices I see on Alibaba, but they aren't going anywhere because China subsidizes their panels so heavily.

[-] BCBoy911@lemmy.ca 6 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago)

There are no Canadian-made panels because we don't tariff the panels coming in from the US and other Asian countries. Only China is singled out because Canada is playing second fiddle on the US's new cold war strategy against China - sucks that we aren't a sovereign country that can make our own policies and forge relationships with whatever country we want, but it is what it is. 51st state, baby!