Canada 2015-25 and Beyond: New Hope or Phantom Menace?

[GreenGoo]

I despise Tom Green. At least I used to. Is he still alive?

[Rumpy]

Yeah, he is, though he's much mellowed out and now living a farm life back in Canada. Like you, I despised his earlier crude attempt at humour, but he seems to be very different now.

[IceBear]

Today he harped on our lack of spending on defense again as to why we should be 51st State. All I know is, that since he essentially told Europe to take care of themselves, I hope our next government will spend on the military to protect ourselves. Heck, if we bought missile launchers and other US military supplies, we'd also tap down that trade deficit he's always on about.

[IceBear]

Well, that's new. This is with respect to the reciprocal tariffs

Trump sees Canada's general sales tax as a tariff, two senior Canadian government sources told Radio-Canada. The president raised the issue during one of his calls with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Feb. 3, to which Trudeau said there are several American states, including Florida, with sales taxes of their own.

Trump's issue is that Canada has a federal sales tax and the U.S. does not, a third source said.

[YellowKing]

to which Trudeau said there are several American states, including Florida, with sales taxes of their own.

Not just several. There are only 5 states that do not have a sales tax.

[GreenGoo]

Many people, smart people, have agreed with me that Federal and State sales taxes are different. One is a tariff, the other is helping me keep inflation up. I mean down. I mean they are bigly good.

[Holman]

Trump apparently floated the idea today that every country in the world with a VAT (which is the vast majority of them) is effectively levying a tariff.

Leaving aside that this is not how things actually work, what the hell does he think he is doing? Most probably, he's poking at taxes and tariffs towards the goal of eliminating the USA's income tax and replacing it with something much more regressive like a national consumption tax.

In other words: Canada, the target isn't you; it's us.

[stessier]

How is a consumption tax not a federal sales tax?

[Blackhawk]

...the goal of eliminating the USA's income tax and replacing it with something much more regressive like a national consumption tax.

That would be a hard blow for the disabled and many retired people - people who typically don't pay income taxes. We'd get all of the extra costs, but none of the extra income.

[Rumpy]

It's kind of interesting that he'd say that, given that Canada has always paid more in taxes for pretty much everything.

[Holman]

...the goal of eliminating the USA's income tax and replacing it with something much more regressive like a national consumption tax.

That would be a hard blow for the disabled and many retired people - people who typically don't pay income taxes. We'd get all of the extra costs, but none of the extra income.

Yep.

But won't you think of the m/b/trillionaires? What about *their* suffering?

[GreenGoo]

That would be a hard blow for the disabled and many retired people - people who typically don't pay income taxes. We'd get all of the extra costs, but none of the extra income.

Yes. That's a well known consequence. Working as expected.

[Max Peck]

A federal sales tax is obviously not the same as a tariff, given that it applies equally to domestically produced and imported goods. But I suppose you'd need to understand what tariffs are in order to understand that distinction, so it explains why Trump is confused by the issue.

[Rumpy]

Yep, economics 101. Meanwhile, it's like he's trying to re-invent economics to his level of understanding, which ain't much. Square peg, round hole. He can keep trying as much as he wants, but it will never work, and make a mess of things in the end.