Episode Details

In this episode of Fighting Matters, Steve Kwan and Stephan Kesting talk through the Canada-US trade war from the Canadian side of the border. They explain why this was never about tariffs, and why Americans are not hearing how much of their own economy runs on Canadian lumber, oil, electricity, and potash, the base ingredient in most fertilizer. Canadian boycotts have already done damage that dropping the tariffs will not undo.

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🔗 Links Mentioned:
- FULL SPEECH | Carney explains why Canada suspended trade talks with U.S. — CBC News — https://youtu.be/l-WgOxbWUHk

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👥 Featuring:
- Steve Kwan — https://bjjmentalmodels.com
- Stephan Kesting — https://grapplearts.com

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🧠 Topics Discussed:
- What the US demanded in the talks
- French labeling and Canadian culture
- 51st state rhetoric and sovereignty
- Alberta separatism as a wedge
- Potash, lumber, and US dependence
- The odds of a hot war with Canada
- Boycotts as the real pressure

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📖 Chapters:
00:00 — Two Canadians on the trade war
01:15 — The Welland Canal fake story
03:26 — What American media leaves out
05:49 — This started in January 2025
08:32 — The real reason talks collapsed
10:16 — Quebec and the French language
16:23 — Trump signed the USMCA himself
19:12 — Trust that takes decades to fix
25:10 — Hostile posts are policy now
29:50 — Could this become a shooting war
31:46 — Why Canada can hurt America
35:55 — Potash, lumber, and toilet paper
39:45 — Loyalty picked over competence
47:02 — Where are the American protests
51:33 — Boycotts and voting with dollars
55:10 — A Canadian insurgency and NATO