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Canada correctly sees the need to diversify away from US trade due to actions of president Trump.

Please note Canada’s Top Port Seeks Builder to Add 70% Capacity in Asia Trade Push

The Port of Vancouver, Canada’s main trade gateway to Asia, kicked off the search for a company to build a new wharf to handle 70% more cargo, as the country looks for ways reduce economic reliance on the US.

Canada is searching for “nation-building projects” to boost growth and diversify trade away from the US after President Donald Trump launched a global trade war and repeatedly talked about absorbing the country as the 51st US state. Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government recently passed a law that’s designed to speed up government approvals for such projects.

“We’ve been talking to the government at all levels, including the most senior, about the project,” Pang said, and conversations are happening on ways to “even potentially further accelerate it.”

Roberts Bank 2 has received most approvals already, though it’s awaiting a green light from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Building the 100-hectare marine landmass, causeway and wharf structure will ultimately create more than 18,000 jobs during the terminal’s construction and add C$3 billion annually to Canada’s gross domestic product, the port has said.

The terminal is set to be running by the mid 2030s and the expansion would allow the port to handle an additional 2.4 million twenty-foot equivalent units a year. That represents a 70% increase to the port’s 2024 container volume of 3.5 million. Vancouver’s port says it already handles almost as much cargo as the next five largest Canadian ports combined.

Soured Relationship

This port expansion will take years, perhaps even a decade, but it is another sign of how Trump’s tariffs are backfiring.

Trump has managed to push Canada, Brazil, and Germany closer to China. Mexico is next.

US Imports and Exports Mexico, China, Canada, EU

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On a single-country basis, Canada is the second largest US trading partner. Mexico is first, and China a distant third.

The US imports $97 billion of oil from Canada.

The US runs a goods trade surplus of $33 billion with Canada excluding oil. The US surplus with Canada is even bigger if you factor in services.

In Trump’s truly twisted mind, the US would have a better relationship with Canada if Canada sent its oil to China instead of the US.

Trump would then be happy with a trade surplus.

Trump’s Comment on Trade With Canada

On May 6, in a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Trump proclaimed “We don’t do much business with Canada from our standpoint. They do a lot of business with us. We’re at like 4%.”

Is Trump truly that ignorant?

On February 2, 2025 I commented on Trump’s claim “We Have All the Oil We Need”

By volume, we are reasonably close. But by grades of oil US refiners need, we aren’t. Here are the details.

On April 1, I noted Excluding Oil, the US Has a Trade Surplus with Canada Every Year Since 2008

Let’s do a fact check on Trump’s Canada claims.

Please note that Canada is the largest single-country US export market, ahead of Mexico.

It’s impossible to overstate the gross lies or total ignorance inherent in Trump’s preposterous claims about trade with Canada.

Trump now has forced Canada into seeking a better relationship with China.

Instead, the US should be seeing to enhance our relationship with Canada, especially as pertains to rare earth minerals.

Related Posts

July 8, 2025: Copper Spikes to Record High After Trump’s 50 Percent Tariff Announcement

How Many Jobs Will Trump Create?

Assuming the US produces all the copper it needs, the answer is hugely negative.

Perhaps mining industry employment doubles, if and when US mines get into production.

But that is dwarfed by users of copper, all paying a higher price.

July 9, 2025: Trump Slaps Brazil With a 50 Percent Tariff Over Treatment of Political Ally

The tariff Bizarro World gets more bizarre.

July 10, 2025: Letters Show Trump Sticks With Ridiculous Definition of Reciprocal Tariffs

Let’s review Trump’s definition of reciprocal tariffs and his new announcements.

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