Which came first — the dope or the egg?
According to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, US president Donald Trump shouldn’t count his chickens before they’re hatched by manufacturing a bogus fentanyl crisis at the border to justify unfair 25% tariffs.
In fact, more eggs than fentanyl have been seized at the 49th parallel since Canada appointed a border czar and began patrolling the cross with (US made) Blackhawk helicopters.
“As serious as combatting illegal fentanyl is, its link to these trade decisions is highly questionable. In fact, it appears there are more eggs being smuggled into the U.S. from Canada right now than fentanyl,” said Chamber vice-president and public policy chief Matthew Holmes.
“Tariffs and taxes on Americans will not make life more affordable. Trade will."
Holmes said the fact that Trump on Wednesday made exemptions for Detroit automakers is proof that the border crisis is all feathers when it comes to clamping down on USD$762.1 billion in cross border trade.
“Here we go again. We’ve seen this movie before. President Trump puts tariffs in place and then doles out exemptions one at a time. That is not how a long-lasting trade alliance is built,” he said.
Holmes pointed to a 36% increase in seizures of eggs at the Detroit-Windsor border crossing stemming from the bird-flu outbreak south of the border. Along the Mexican border with California it's more like 158%.
Egg prices have spiked 14% since January and are expected to climb another 41% this year. By contrast, US fentanyl deaths fell about 25% last year, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
Presently a dozen eggs are selling for As much as USD$9 compared to $1-$3 for a fentanyl tablet, according to the Maricopa County DA’s office.
According to the US government’s own statistics, Canada accounted for 0.2% of all the illegal fentanyl smuggled into the US last year, or about 20 kilos compared to more than 10,000 kilos originating from Mexico.
The US Drug Enforcement Administration’s 2024 National Drug Threat Assessment report didn’t use the word Canada’. It mentioned Mexico 86 times.
But Chamber officials complain that the Trump administration just doesn’t want to listen to facts.
“Our Canadian Chamber team and business leaders are on the ground in Washington this week,” Holmes said. “You know what they’re not hearing from anyone? That the affordability crisis should get worse.”
