Trump used the AI war as an excuse to impose tariffs on China exceeding 100%, but it ultimately failed.
The biggest reason for the failure was
because of rare earth elements from China
that China is the largest importer of US soybeans
That's why.
He very clumsily lowered the tariffs to 36.5%, which is still high, and now they are starting to bring in Chinese goods through roundabout routes.
The US tried to isolate China by using the tariff card and threatened its allies, but
there was an increase in roundabout exports of Chinese goods through Canada, Mexico, and Vietnam, and the US ended up being isolated.
To counter this, they came up with a mutual trade agreement to prohibit third-party agreements with China, effectively targeting Canada, a country close to the US.
This puts Japan in a state of emergency.
Toyota and Honda are produced in Canada, and in Toyota's case, its North American base is located in Canada. As a result, it now faces a 50% tariff.
The reason Canada was underestimated is because of its high dependence on the US. It imports a lot of automobiles, food ingredients, alcohol, and electronic equipment. In particular, it doesn't have oil refining facilities, so it also imports plastics from the US. That's why they thought it would be easy.
They are constantly pressuring Canada to prevent it from engaging in third-party exchanges with China.
From our perspective, a prolonged trade war between Canada and the US, with Canada resolutely resisting, would be beneficial.
If Trump negotiates favorably with Canada, he will gain momentum and then pressure Japan and our country. If Japan caves in like last time and makes humiliating concessions, we could be put in a very disadvantageous position.
Moreover, as a country with semiconductor original tools, if large corporations are pressured to reinvest in the US and face tariffs on top of that, the vicious cycle of a rising exchange rate will repeat itself.
The friction between Canada and the US is likely to continue for a long time. The reason is that a majority of Canadians agree with fighting against the US and are starting to think they need to reduce their dependence on the US market.
Honestly, it's frustrating that Canada didn't select our companies for the submarine project. I wish they had handed it over to the US, but on the other hand, I quietly hope that they will just fight it out for a long time so that the sparks don't fly our way...
