By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close
Ryuu96 on 01 February 2025
Edit Thread
SvennoJ said:
IkePoR said:

That's the million dollar question.  If we take into account what Trump says(illegal northern and southern border crossings, drug smuggling) and who Trump is(petty, arrogant, tough), I concluded this: oil from Canada, extortion from both.

Does he want our oil or not?

Trump thinks he can force us into becoming the 51st state with trade tarrifs. Ludicrous. Meanwhile the damage is already done. The sentiment about Americans is changing here fast.

He's blaming it on a fentanyl crisis coming from Canada as well, however, the numbers don't support him.

Trump Calls Canada a Big Player in the Fentanyl Trade. Is It? - The New York Times

As the opioid epidemic raged in the United States, killing thousands, Congress in 2020 established a commission to look into ways to reduce the flow of the drugs into the country. The commission found that “Canada is not known to be a major source of fentanyl, other synthetic opioids or precursor chemicals to the United States, a conclusion primarily drawn from seizure data,” according to its February 2022 report.

Last year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents intercepted about 19 kilograms of fentanyl at the northern border, compared with almost 9,600 kilograms at the border with Mexico, where cartels mass-produce the drug.

Financially, it doesn’t make sense for Canadian criminal groups to focus on exporting fentanyl south, said Daniel Anson, the director of intelligence and investigations at the Canada Border Services Agency. “Mexican fentanyl, due to the cost and the street price, is very difficult to compete with in the U.S.,” he said.

Canada has some of the strictest chemical import regulations in the world under its Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, but health officials and police often struggle to keep up with the evolving chemical components used by organized criminals to produce fentanyl.

Tariff On Canada Not Justified By U.S. Immigration And Drug Claims

In Fiscal Year 2024, USCBP seized 21,148 pounds of fentanyl at the southwest border, mostly smuggled from Mexico. In contrast, only 43 pounds were intercepted at the northern border. This means that less than 1% of all fentanyl seizures occurred at the U.S.-Canada border.

Furthermore, drug flows are not a one-way street. In 2024, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) seized approximately 10.8 pounds of fentanyl coming into Canada from the United States. In comparison, CBSA reported that 17.6 pounds of fentanyl were smuggled from Canada into the U.S. This suggests that the trafficking issue is not as one-sided as the administration claims.