CUSMA/NAFTO and BRICS

Between these two very large trade associations we have almost 50% of the population and 50% of the economic exchanges that occur in the world it would appear by the latest statistics.  Mind you I am guessing at CUSMA/NAFTO and the stats for BRICS were just mentioned today. If one looks at G7 compared to BRICS the population and economic exchanges are even higher as a percentage of world population and economic interactions. Trade is such a good way for countries to share their developments in produce/product production and their cultures and upsetting that trade could be rather painful for countries that get involved in that. Associations particularly between neighbours are of enormous benefit to them and they can be especially when the natural environment provides some countries with huge potential because of existing economic possibilities (Canada is a huge land mass with much of it owned by the First Nations so they are very much in the forefront of trade here.) That is worth its weight in gold for sure and one should look to that when considering changes in a current trade pact - at least that is my humble opinion. When it isn't broken don't tamper with it just nurse it along and life flows so much more kindly especially for that American farmer working in his fields knowing that his crops have a home to go to and he can grow as much as he likes and know that he will make money on it. Or the American  factory worker building items that get sold to their neighbour. An interesting thought that came to me this morning as the end of the year is upon us. I am remembering the $10 cauliflower that came to our stores nearly six years ago now and watching them waste on the counter was just sad really. There weren't any more cauliflowers for quite a while. No one was spending $10 or whatever it would be if one put a 25% tariff on it! Why insult the farmers of one's country by setting up a practice that would hurt them. That is really strange. It would be sad to live on stored (potatoes, cabbages, carrots, turnips etc) vegetables and frozen (we have plants that freeze a lot of vegetables) products when south of us farmers are already growing them in abundance in anticipation. The logic of that escapes me for sure but last time we didn't buy the shipped in produce with a tariff on it - $10 for a cauliflower or a head of broccoli or more!

I was in the mall today on purpose actually as I generally dislike shopping and had a glance around noting all of the American stores that are there. They sell all kinds of items here and do their sales actually get noted in the American trade that passes into Canada. I mean we do not grow cotton for one thing and anything made of cotton is imported and usually from the United States. We have a lot of actual American stores and this isn't even Toronto. Sometimes I think wealthy people live in an ivory tower and have no idea what is happening beyond statistics that only measure items that are shipped across a border in trade that is reviewed by whatever institute that produces the statistics which are in reality just an overlook at what crosses the border in controlled trade and I suspect does not include these American stores using their own trucks or hired trucks to bring products in. Wealth does create its own ivory tower and most wealthy inhabitants seldom live in the real world as far as I can see. One can end up inflicting a lot of pain on the hard working people (in this case American farmers/factory workers) by putting tariffs on incoming products which then get offset by tariffs on the return trade. Giving lots of currency into the government coffers but nothing into the hands of the producers. How does the government spend all of that money? Unfortunately with our present government it would be spent continuing to turn us into a welfare state which will end soon hopefully. I wonder if it is meant to offset the taxes that are being reduced for the rich in America. That would be really sad for American workers for sure. The rich make their money on the backs of hard working Americans and reducing their output because of not being able to sell it is just an insult really to them.

Then add to that the disproportionate population 40 million in Canada and 330 million in the United States and the ability of the higher population to produce far more products which we buy because we do not produce them here for many reasons - short growing season, too cold to grow them like oranges etc, limited access to some materials for production the list goes on and on for the reasons that we do not produce some items; our Canadian stores are full of American produce/products. Trying to simplify what is purchased in our country that is American compared to what is purchased by Americans that is Canadian is a difficult proposition. After all Canadians go south and buy American goods because they produce so many in abundance (when you really want something like a particular item of clothing it is much easier to go and buy it at the source (namely in the United States) then try and buy it here where there may not be enough in that size or colour or whatever and is that included in the total? My mind is curious today.

Latin completed and it is a lovely day; perfect for skiing perhaps time will tell.