Posted originally on CTH on May 6, 2025 | Sundance

I don’t want to say ‘I toldya so’, but….  Listen carefully to the answer to the first question at (05:00 minute mark) as President Trump responds to the question about the USMCA with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney next to him.  The USMCA is “effective, and it’s still effective, but people have to follow it,” inferring the issues of Canada as a tool to avoid China tariffs, President Trump said.

Then comes the part everyone will overlook as President Trump notes, “as you know it terminates fairly shortly. It gets renegotiated fairly shortly.” Then comes the biggest statement, “this was a transitional deal, and we’ll see what happens, we’re going to start renegotiating that”… “I don’t know if it serves a purpose anymore.”  …. “And the biggest purpose it served was, we got rid of NAFTA.”  This presents the future of the USMCA and specifically the U.S-Canada aspect to the trade deal exactly as we anticipated.

President Trump is going to exit the trilateral USMCA in favor of two distinctly different bilateral trade agreements between the U.S and Mexico; and the U.S and Canada.  The only consideration now is the timing.  President Trump is 100% focused on the BIG ECONOMIC PICTURE; it’s not about the politics, it’s all about the economics. [Also pay attention to USTR Jamieson Greer]  WATCH:

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Prime Minister Mark Carney knows what is coming. His response about stepping up their military spending to meet NATO obligations is part of that dynamic.

The 51st state remarks were all about getting Canada into a position where Trump is about to open up two distinctly different bilateral trade agreements.  The relationship that Canada has with China is a major risk to Carney’s position.  Canada doesn’t stand a chance.  In essence, at the end of this journey of economics North American trade is going to be entirely different.