From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By Ireland Owens

President-elect Donald Trump announced on a social media post that he spoke over the phone with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday about various topics.

Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social that his phone call with the Chinese leader was “a very good one”. The president-elect also stated that he and Xi discussed trade, TikTok, fentanyl and “many other subjects.”

“I just spoke to Chairman Xi Jinping of China,” Trump wrote in the Truth Social post. “The call was a very good one for both China and the U.S.A. It is my expectation that we will solve many problems together, and starting immediately. We discussed balancing Trade, Fentanyl, TikTok, and many other subjects. President Xi and I will do everything possible to make the World more peaceful and safe!”

Trump’s social media post came just hours before the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold a law requiring TikTok’s Chinese owners to divest from the app or face a ban. Following the news of the ruling, Trump wrote in a Truth Social post that the Supreme Court’s decision “was expected, and everyone must respect it.”

“My decision on TikTok will be made in the not too distant future, but I must have time to review the situation,” Trump added. “Stay tuned!”

Trump invited Xi and other global leaders to attend his presidential inauguration, an invitation which the Chinese president reportedly declined. Beijing confirmed on Thursday that it was sending an envoy, Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, to attend Trump’s inauguration.

The president-elect has vowed to impose sweeping tariffs on foreign countries when he returns to office, including on China, Canada and Mexico. Trump has threatened to impose hefty tariffs on both Canada and Mexico if they do not do more to curb the flow of illegal drugs and immigrants being smuggled into the U.S. from the two countries.

Notably, trade tensions between the U.S. and China have been escalating in recent months, with the Biden-Harris administration announcing in December export restrictions on certain chips and semiconductor equipment, a move which Beijing rapidly retaliated against by announcing an export ban on some metals and rare minerals.

China added four U.S. companies to a so-called “Unreliable Entity List” list on Jan. 15 as retaliation against the U.S. government’s recent arms sales to Taiwan.

During his first term, Trump enacted various trade restrictions against Beijing, setting off a contentious trade dispute with Xi’s country. Trump is returning to the White House on Jan. 20.

From EnergyNow.ca

By William Lacey

There has been a lot of talk about how Premier Danielle Smith did not sign a statement of support with the Government of Canada regarding a unified response to any tariff action taken by incoming President of the United States, Donald Trump.

Trudeau singles out Alberta premier for not putting ‘Canada first’ in break with other provinces

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While it is easy to throw stones at Premier Smith and call her actions one of selfishness, placing the interests of Alberta ahead of Canada, I think there are a number of reasons why one could reply that she was well within her right to act as she did. Over the last decade, Trudeau has gone out of his way to vilify the oil and gas industry, through his continual bad mouthing of the industry as being antiquated, and implementing policies that ensured that capital flight from the space accelerated, infrastructure projects were cancelled and massive levels of uncertainty were overlaid on the investment landscape going forward. Despite all this, the oil and gas sector still remains one of the most important economic contributors to the economy and is the largest component of exports from Canada to the United States, and it isn’t even close.

The Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC)

The ironic thing of all this? To get oil to the refineries in the east, you need to IMPORT it by pipeline from the United States or primarily by ship to Quebec and New Brunswick. Had the Energy East Pipeline been built, Canadian refineries could have had Canadian domiciled product to satiate them. Moreover, had Northern Gateway been built, we would have diversified our client list beyond the United States. Sure, the Trans Mountain Pipeline was built, at extraordinary cost and timelines, and some “credit” is due to the Government getting it done, but the proof is in the current landscape that we operate in.

Now, coming back to the beginning. Why do I think Trudeau should look in the mirror before throwing rocks at Premier Smith? I come back to 2015 when Trudeau said Canada is the world’s “first postnational state” and that “there is no core identity, no mainstream in Canada.” He has gone about taking away what many of us grew up with, namely a sense of Canadian identity, and tried to replace that with shame and no collective identity. What is a post nation state you may ask? Post-nationalism or non-nationalism is the process or trend by which nation states and national identities lose their importance relative to cross-nation and self-organized or supranational and global entities as well as local entities.

So, is it any wonder that people are starting to question what is Canadian any more? At a time when Canada is under significant threat, the irony that Alberta likely represents the best tool in this tools (Trudeau) economic toolbox, is wildly ironic. As they say, karma’s a bitch.

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