Henry Kissinger, the political scientist who served as the 56th US Secretary of State from 1973 to 1977 once said: “The US has no permanent friends and no permanent enemies it only has permanent interests.” Trump is just the current mouthpiece for those billionaire interests. Those interests have been casting a covetous eye over Greenland, the Panama Canal and Canada. This is why Trump has been so relentless in pushing tariffs, so those interests can gain sovereignty and control over our country.
Tariffs are a wealth machine for Trump’s supporters. When you increase the border tax, domestic sticker prices on steel, copper, semiconductors and anything that crosses a dock rise in lockstep. Consumers and downstream manufacturers swallow the hike, while US producers pocket the spread. That is why stock traders swarmed names like Freeport McMoRan, Southern Copper, Intel, and Texas Instruments the moment the 25 per cent tariff wall went up. Their cost barely moved, but the price of their products did, and the extra margin fell straight to the bottom line.
The tariff carve-outs are even more telling. The formal exclusion program from Trump 1.0 vanished, and exemptions now float out of a back room. One glaring example is polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin, hardly a “critical mineral,” slipped onto the exempt list. The biggest winner is Reyes Holdings, the Coke-bottling empire run by two billionaire brothers who have written seven figure cheques to GOP coffers, and keep Ballard Partners, the same lobby shop that once kept the Trump Organization on retainer. When an everyday import dodges a 25 per cent duty while your competitors still pay, that is free money.
Wilbur Ross, the steel magnate who ran Commerce, has been candid that tariffs serve a two-for-one purpose: One, to squeeze trading partners and raise cash to fund fresh tax cuts. In practice it is a loop, which transfers revenue from every importer to the Treasury. Second, to then channel the savings back to the same shareholder class through the tax code.
There is a longer tale too. Once a tariff props an industry up, bankers and analysts start modeling the new price deck as a permanent base case, inflating valuations and lending capacity even if the duty melts away later. Coal barons did the same trick in 1890 under the McKinley Tariff: bake the higher price into the capital structure, then lobby like mad to keep it. Trump’s rhetoric justifying tariffs is often appealing to working class concerns and national strength however, the material benefits only flow upward.
What is presented as a policy of national revival is often a sophisticated method of redistributing economic advantage toward the wealthiest.
Finally, because the White House can dial duties up or down case by case, Canada catches 35 per cent across the board this time. China only pays 10 per cent on a narrower basket, every exemption becomes political currency. If your factory sits in the right district, you are suddenly indispensable at budget and election time. Add it up and the tariff regime looks less like border security than a tailored surtax on everyone else’s supply chain. The money is routed to a small circle of domestic balance sheets; all aimed at Trump’s rolodex of billionaire donors.
Alberta Premier Daniele Smith’s scheme to separate Alberta from Canada is further fueling Trump’s scheme to annex Canada. Prime Minister Mark Carney can’t be afraid of calling out Smith’s destructive actions and policies.
In Carney’s visit with Trump. Trump repeated his 51st statement saying Canada
could have the Golden Dome missile defense for free if Canada became the 51st state. Carney did not say anything publicly to disavow that comment. He really needed to.
US democracy is being dismantled by a group of billionaires, conservative ideologues and Christian nationalists who aim to permanently change the US in their interests. Canadians do not want any part of that, or want the border erased.
Support rabble today!
We’re so glad you stopped by! Thanks for consuming rabble content this year.
rabble.ca is 100% reader and donor funded, so as an avid reader of our content, we hope you will consider gifting rabble with a donation during our summer fundraiser today.
Nick Seebruch, editor
Whether it be a one-time donation or a small monthly contribution, your support is critical to keep rabble writers producing the work you’ve come to rely on as a part of a healthy media diet.
Become a rabble rouser — donate to rabble.ca today.
Nick Seebruch, editor
