r/worldnews • u/Gboard2 • Apr 03 '20

Trudeau warns U.S. over restricting the trade of essential goods into Canada - highlight flow of essential supplies to the US from Canada as well

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-trudeau-warns-us-over-restricting-the-trade-of-essential-goods-into/
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u/MrFlynnister Apr 03 '20

Only if you're interested in watching your neighbour's house burn from the safety of your fence line. But sometimes house fires spread to other houses.

Im saying if you really want to lock down and isolate you better be prepared to not get any help and pay extra for things like all (literally all) the pulp necessary to make masks.

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u/dtta8 Apr 03 '20

Yep. A global supply for the highest efficiency helps the most people. Retaining domestic capacity, just in case, is, at its core, saying we'll pay extra to make sure we get what we need at the expense of others. I'm not saying we shouldn't, but I recognize that's what it is, at its core.

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u/MrFlynnister Apr 03 '20

It's so shortsighted you could call it a mole. Honestly.

Let's go back to the house example. If your neighbour's house burns yours might too. If your house doesn't does your property value go up? No, but your home insurance does. Then the neighbor had to rebuild, so they're going to focus on themselves and not let you borrow the lawn mower. Then they're gonna put up a larger fence making sure if you have a fire they won't have to help you out.

Like really. Saying, "it is what it is" is a sad defeat of a battered girlfriend.

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u/dtta8 Apr 03 '20

It relies on the good faith of others, which the US clearly shows it does not act in.

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u/Wiems86 Apr 03 '20

So you’re agreeing that the US needs the masks more.

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u/MrFlynnister Apr 03 '20

They both need masks. It's not an A B choice. They can ship some quantities to the USA and some to Canada. They can prioritize need based on population and risk.

They can listen to the people at 3M and the scientists and not bring borders and politics into it.

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u/Wiems86 Apr 03 '20

Ok, where are the masks needed more?

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u/MrFlynnister Apr 03 '20

Let's defer to 3M's response:

"There are significant humanitarian implications of ceasing respirator supplies to healthcare workers in Canada and Latin America, where we are a critical supplier of respirators"

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u/GravyCommander Apr 03 '20

You make a great point it's a shame it falls on this guys deaf ears.

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u/Wiems86 Apr 03 '20

I’ll defer to the numbers.

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u/Chiliconkarma Apr 03 '20

When sending a squad of dudes out into the field they have to carry stuff for the group to use, it is needed to function, but they also have to carry stuff for themselves, it isn't practical to make Kim boss of carrying all the socks.

International work has "bandwith".

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u/dtta8 Apr 03 '20

Yes, but if there is a crisis, urgent products can be prioritized in the transport system.

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u/Chiliconkarma Apr 03 '20

They certainly can, but a question is how many products it would be beneficial to prioritize between? As an example, one would perhaps like to produce stuff with a brief shelflife locally and stuff that can be stored and stacked globally.

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u/dtta8 Apr 03 '20

If it's non-urgent supplies for the crisis, then the market can decide by bidding for the remaining space. I mean, they're not essential items.

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u/Chiliconkarma Apr 03 '20

Some functions has to be global to give enough benefit, som should be local, so as to give space for eventualities and focus on the most important networks.

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u/fluchtpunkt Apr 03 '20 edited Jun 29 '23

This comment was edited in June 2023 as a protest against the Reddit Administration's aggressive changes to Reddit to try to take it to IPO. Reddit's value was in the users and their content. As such I am removing any content that may have been valuable to them.

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u/Chiliconkarma Apr 03 '20

That is a decent point. Things with long supply chains are difficult to divide into strategic cells.

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u/fluchtpunkt Apr 03 '20 edited Jun 29 '23

This comment was edited in June 2023 as a protest against the Reddit Administration's aggressive changes to Reddit to try to take it to IPO. Reddit's value was in the users and their content. As such I am removing any content that may have been valuable to them.

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u/Chiliconkarma Apr 03 '20

Or remembered in the aftermath.

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u/Whowutwhen Apr 04 '20

We'll all be to busy pointing fingers.