Clearly Classical

This is Canada's out-sized contribution to the trade balance. On a per capita basis, we import much more from the US than they do from us, nearly 8 times as much (1.43 vs 10.99). If Canadians bought per capita like Americans do, the trade deficit would be several hundred billion.

It makes sense that the US buys more than Canada does in absolute numbers, they have roughly an order of magnitude more people. The surprise here isn't that there's a deficit, but that it's so small (just 4.4%) while the disparity in population is so large.

One very important, but almost always overlooked point is that there really is no overall deficit (or surplus) for international transactions once we account for both: a) cash flows for goods and services (current account) and b) cash flows for financial assets (capital account)... Another way to think about it is to say that our trade deficits for merchandise are always accompanied by a “foreign investment surplus.”

That $41b still isn't a rip-off by Canada. Any economist could tell you that the money from a trade deficits gets returned to the US as surplus foreign investment, every last penny.
aei.org/carpe-diem/w...

Graph of Top US Trade Partners (2023)

For 2023, the goods and services exchanged totaled $923 billion. US exports were $441 billion, while imports were $482 billion, leaving a $41 billion trade deficit with Canada. This imbalance relatively small, only about 4.4% of the total value of trade.
crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/...

The plain fact is the trade relationship between the US and Canada is the largest in the world. More than Mexico, more than China, more than the entire EU. Anyone saying "Canada needs trade with the US more than the US needs trade with Canada" is missing the forest for the trees

Screenshot of Twitter post by Acyn @Acyn Smiley: He made it very clear with PM Trudeau that if Canada can't survive without ripping off the US, billions of dollars every single year, then perhaps they should annex..

I'm getting really sick of the talking point that Canada is somehow "ripping off" the US because there's a trade deficit. This is objectively false, and also ignores how Canada actually makes an over-sized contribution to the trade balance. 🧵

This artist’s concept shows an over-the-shoulder view of Cassini making one of its Grand Finale dives over Saturn.

Credit NASA/JPL-Caltech

Decided to create a backup account here as Twitter continues to degrade. Glad to see so many of my favourite people are already here.