Why Canada Gets to Dump Its Trash in Michigan
Michigan is a cheap place to dump and Nafta made waste not subject to tariffs
It’s the Canadians, again.
They’re literally dumping on us. Millions of tons of industrial waste pour into Michigan’s landfills every year from Canada. Enough to build two Empire State Buildings of garbage.
We can’t stop it. And it’s all the fault of Nafta and the U.S. Constitution.
That notorious trade deal provided the legal framework that prevents Michigan from stopping Toronto’s detritus from passing through Detroit. Under the compact, solid waste is legally classified as a “commodity.” And because that commodity—garbage—is entirely “manufactured” in North America, it avoids a tariff.
Michigan’s dumping fees are cheap—about half the cost of Ontario’s. It’s so cheap neighboring states also dump on us. We’re surrounded by more garbage per person than any state in the Union.
New York recently tried hauling in nuclear waste from the World War II-era Manhattan Project. Ohio attempted to truck in toxic phosgene dregs from the East Palestine train disaster. Phosgene is a substance so deadly that it’s banned by the Geneva Convention. Intense local opposition stopped both Ohio and New York’s poison from being buried here, but their highways, byways, and baby diapers still pour in every day and there’s not much we can do about it.
But then there’s Canada: a nation of environmental moralizers who live in a vast expanse but can’t seem to find a place to put their garbage besides their neighbor’s lawn.
The Constitution’s commerce clause forbids Michigan from charging out-of-state and international garbage haulers a higher price than we pay ourselves. That can only be done by an act of Congress. And you know Michigan’s unserious Congressional delegation.
So we in the Great Lakes State are stuck with mountains of foreign shit, the stench of methane and rot, and hundreds of Canadian trucks busting up our roads each day.
There is too much division in Michigan between the red-hatters and the green-thumbers. But I’ve got an idea I think we can all agree upon.
Tariff their garbage. Big beautiful tariffs. The best tariffs probably in the history of the world. The president has sweeping executive powers. Put a 100% tariff on Canadian garbage, and we can stop the flow altogether.
And after that, maybe we can talk about opening the new bridge.
