Detroit — I’m on the Ambassador Bridge, and 85% of the trucks going back and forth are Canadian.
Why?
Because the Canadians have been screwing us for the last 30 years.
Let me explain. NAFTA is 30 years old. But there’s no free trade, not really. The Canadians refuse to compete. We send stuff to Canada, and they tariff the shit out of it. Butter, 300%. Milk, 270%. Cheese, 250%. Chicken, 240%. Eggs, 150%. Copper and steel, 50%. Aluminum, 25%.
And cars? 45%.
What about Canadian cars? We don’t tariff Canadian cars. In fact, Canada doesn’t even have any car companies. Those are our car companies over there. But still, the Canadian auto worker makes a couple dollars more an hour than the American auto worker. And his cars are still cheaper.
Why? Because of the tariffs. And two, because Canada pays for the health care of the auto worker. In the U.S., the Big Three have to pay for it.
So how does Canada afford health care for its auto workers? Because we pay for Canada’s defense. That’s why.
And wait, what’s that down there? The new Gordie Howe International Bridge. The latest piece in the big diabolical global game of risk.
Canada is scamming us. They pay for the bridge, and we get not only the smog, but we get Chinese and German goods being dumped into the U.S. as Canada takes a middleman piece.
Canada’s got two giant ports on the east coast, one in Halifax and one in Montreal. They’ve got two more giant ports on the west coast in Vancouver and Prince Rupert. Rail lines carry the goods across the continent, and then they come to the bridges in Detroit, Chicago, Seattle, and Buffalo. And then the Canadian national rail system based in Montreal cuts the U.S. in half, running from Chicago to New Orleans.
I got an idea.
How about 100% tariff on that bridge, Mr. President? And maybe that railroad going from New Orleans to Chicago? 100%.
In the current trade system, places like Detroit crumble, and first-world workers become second-hand shoppers. Just look at the clothes on your back, bro. My hat is made in the USA, 100% beaver pelt. But the coat? Made in China.
Sweater? Bangladesh, bro. The American flag boots? Ironically, henche en Mexico. Blue jeans? Pakistan. My undies? Vietnam, bro.
There’s the price of stuff, but there’s also the price of labor. And in Detroit, we’ve been getting shafted for three decades with these unfair trade deals. They got us standing around with our hats in our hands.
Charlie LeDuff is a reporter educated in public schools. Follow him on X @Charlieleduff.
Editor’s Note: The Ambassador Bridge was not involved in creating, nor has it approved, the content of this report.
