{"id":22090,"date":"2026-09-18T01:17:39","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T01:17:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?p=22090"},"modified":"2026-09-18T01:17:39","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T01:17:39","slug":"op-ed-what-happens-if-canada-becomes-an-associate-member-of-the-eu-you-may-not-believe-this","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?p=22090","title":{"rendered":"Op-Ed: What happens if Canada becomes an associate member of the EU? You may not believe this."},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <div style=\"display: grid; grid-template-columns: 300px 160px; gap: 2px; width: 460px; background: #eee; padding: 2px;\">\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u6574\u884c\u5bbd\u5e7f\u544a -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column: 1\/-1; width: 460px; height: 250px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876674\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column: 1\/-1; width: 460px; height: 90px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876676\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u5de6\u4fa7\u7ad6\u6392 -->\r\n  <div style=\"height: 250px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876672\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  <div style=\"height: 500px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876680\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u53f3\u4fa7\u6469\u5929\u697c\uff08\u548c\u5de6\u4fa7\u5b8c\u5168\u5bf9\u9f50\uff09 -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-row: 3\/5; height: 750px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876678\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  \r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e6\" data-zoneid=\"5876682\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n<\/div><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-right:0;padding-left:0\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The noisy <strong>response from Trump regarding the proposed associate membership of Canada in the EU<\/strong> now borders on pure slapstick comedy. He sees this as a \u201chostile\u201d situation, and even refers to \u201cbad intentions\u201d on the part of the EU.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Canada and the EU have completely ignored him. That\u2019s just the entr\u00e9e to the wider situation. As the world has come to learn, Trump doesn\u2019t seem to know he has no jurisdiction anywhere but the USA. In this case, the President of the United States is now no more than an irrelevant troll.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His attempts to dictate to Denmark about Greenland, NATO, and other worldwide debacles have also failed to achieve anything but irritating allies and creating ridiculous trade and diplomatic situations. \u00a0If Canada becomes an associate member of the EU, Trump fails completely.  All he <em>can <\/em>do is make a fool of himself. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That said, maybe it\u2019s worth looking a bit closer at the realities of the USA \u201cceasing to trade\u201d with the EU.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For instance:<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The US currently has a trade deficit with the EU<\/strong>, importing about $200 billion more than the EU does from the US.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That issue also <strong>relates to Trump\u2019s tariffs<\/strong>, which are supposed to prop up US revenue. \u00a0The US imports around $600 billion or a bit less from the EU. Tariffs are about 15% with some variables for different goods.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This, believe it or not, is an actual revenue program, based on the stated and documented ideology of someone or something equally absurd, and the odd theory that charging your own people more for imports is better than allowing them to do normal business. It\u2019s actually a much higher tax raised at the Federal level, with additional taxes paid on business income <em>after<\/em> paying the tariffs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The US also imports slightly more with a smaller trade deficit from Canada<\/strong>, overlooking the well-known fact that the Americans have had to source affordable goods from Canada since that famous episode on <em>The Simpsons<\/em>. Canada can take or leave US imports and has been doing exactly that since this insanity started. Again, it\u2019s only Americans on the receiving end of the negatives.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ceasing to trade with the EU would be disastrous for the US and disrupt supply chains nationwide. It\u2019s an astonishingly stupid idea.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Total bilateral trade is about $1.46 trillion<\/strong>. That trade includes profit margins at all levels of distribution. The entire US national supply chain is locked in. This also <strong>includes US agriculture<\/strong>, a highly sensitive domestic political issue in the US at the moment. Then again, maybe Americans don\u2019t need food and money anymore. They can live on intravenous FOX News supplements, perhaps?  <\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-how-not-to-conduct-international-geopolitics\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">How not to conduct international geopolitics<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bizarre as the US\/Canada situation has become, it\u2019s interesting. This has become nothing but infantile rhetoric on the US side and nothing but a healthy level of understandable assertion of independence on the Canadian side,<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s hard to imagine a more unnecessary or more futile conflict. Canada has nothing to gain from even pretending to tolerate the rhetoric. The US has nothing to gain from sabotaging its own credibility.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The net response from the world to US babble has been, \u201cWe had no idea you were such morons.\u201d These constant faux pas <strong>haven\u2019t exactly strengthened the US position with China, either<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Xi Jinping is coming for talks with Trump as this inglorious spat with Canada and the EU slobbers on to its next stone wall. In the past, the US had a fairly solid bloc of allies behind it. Now, it has cheap talk and hysterical postings on Truth Social. That is the sum total of the US position.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you haven\u2019t seen the memes on social media saying, \u201c<em>All Americans must be accompanied by an adult\u201d<\/em>, now is the time to join the dots. This series of absolutely suicidal failures in the geopolitical sphere has absolutely trashed the US position on any subject you care to name.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cTrash\u201d is the other problem. There seems to be a lot of it in US foreign policy. \u00a0You don\u2019t want your garbage running your global policies. The astonishing and continuous underperformance of US diplomacy and its floundering, hopelessly lost domestic economy are simply showing extreme weakness. The Canada\/EU situation is simply defining incompetence on the part of the US.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-november-noschmember\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">November, Noschmember<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The November midterms aren\u2019t an issue for the rest of the world. There will be no budges from Canada or the EU. These are issues of sovereignty and self-determination. There can be no movement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No amount of <strong>brattish whining from Washington<\/strong> will make any difference. This administration created the situation for itself. It did so in full knowledge that none of its demands would ever be acceptable to Canada or the EU.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The US need not expect sympathy. These constant self-inflicted idiocies are wasting the scatology, time, and money of 8.3 billion people. There is no USA in any sense the world recognizes it. It looks more like a very bad movie, two-dimensional and lacking any real substance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Irrational behaviour has consequences. One of those consequences is disgust. Time to show your cards, America. <em>Where are the adults?<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- \u603b\u5bb9\u5668\uff1a\u6700\u5927\u5bbd908px Grid\u7d27\u51d1\u5e03\u5c40 -->\r\n<div style=\"display: grid; grid-template-columns: 728px 160px; gap:2px; width:908px; background:#eee; padding:2px;\">\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u901a\u680f\u9876\u90e8\uff1a\u6700\u5927\u6a2a\u5e45 908x258 \u8de8\u6574\u884c -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column:1\/-1; height:258px; background:#ff6b6b; display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n    <!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114307\" data-width=\"908\" data-height=\"258\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114307});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u7b2c\u4e8c\u901a\u680f\uff1a728\u00d790 \u901a\u680f -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column:1\/-1; height:90px; background:#4ecdc4; display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n    <!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114300\" data-width=\"728\" data-height=\"90\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114300});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u5de6\u4fa7\u4e3b\u680f\uff1a\u591a\u5e7f\u544a\u5806\u53e0 -->\r\n  <div style=\"display:grid; gap:2px;\">\r\n    <div style=\"height:60px; background:#45b7d1; display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n\t<!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114308\" data-width=\"468\" data-height=\"60\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114308});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n    <div style=\"height:250px; background:#ffe066; display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n\t<!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114299\" data-width=\"300\" data-height=\"250\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114299});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n    <div style=\"height:250px; background:#ff9ecd; display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n\t<!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114305\" data-width=\"250\" data-height=\"250\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114305});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n    <div style=\"height:139px; background:#c792ea; display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n\t<!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114302\" data-width=\"133\" data-height=\"139\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114302});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n    <div style=\"height:125px; background:#91e7ac; display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n\t\r\n<!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114303\" data-width=\"125\" data-height=\"125\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114303});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u53f3\u4fa7\u7ad6\u680f\uff1a160\u00d7600 \u6574\u5217\u9ad8\u5e7f\u544a -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-row:3\/8; height:600px;  display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n    <!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114301\" data-width=\"160\" data-height=\"600\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114301});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n<\/div><br \/>\n<br \/> Op-Ed: What happens if Canada becomes an associate member of the EU? You may not believe this.<br \/>\n<br \/>#OpEd #Canada #associate #member<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The noisy response from Trump regarding the proposed associate membership of Canada in the EU&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22091,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[14608,1607,2734,7300],"class_list":["post-22090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","tag-associate","tag-canada","tag-member","tag-oped"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1103439efb2b17d42253f0b1b8c405886787985c.jpg",768,511,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1103439efb2b17d42253f0b1b8c405886787985c-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1103439efb2b17d42253f0b1b8c405886787985c-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1103439efb2b17d42253f0b1b8c405886787985c.jpg",640,426,false],"large":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1103439efb2b17d42253f0b1b8c405886787985c.jpg",640,426,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1103439efb2b17d42253f0b1b8c405886787985c.jpg",768,511,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1103439efb2b17d42253f0b1b8c405886787985c.jpg",768,511,false],"covernews-slider-full":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1103439efb2b17d42253f0b1b8c405886787985c.jpg",768,511,false],"covernews-slider-center":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1103439efb2b17d42253f0b1b8c405886787985c-768x500.jpg",768,500,true],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1103439efb2b17d42253f0b1b8c405886787985c.jpg",768,511,false],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1103439efb2b17d42253f0b1b8c405886787985c-540x340.jpg",540,340,true],"covernews-medium-square":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1103439efb2b17d42253f0b1b8c405886787985c-400x250.jpg",400,250,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?author=1"},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?cat=7\" rel=\"category\">Stories<\/a>","tag_info":"Stories","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22090","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22090"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22090\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}