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This is the death of the US by the way, an isolationist US will eventually collapse in on itself leading to balkanization.
— Anonymous (@youranoncentral.bsky.social) 2025-07-25T19:13:14.890Z

haele
(14,432 posts)Might set up a "duty free" corridor alongside the 5 to be part of this as the GOP increasingly tries to Balkinize the US by punishing Blue states. Blue states can make it work with minimum state usage fees on facilities they set up along the way ...
If this is true, of course
Just a thought, Hmmm?
ret5hd
(21,646 posts)checkpoint alpha, bravo, and charlie along the route?
haele
(14,432 posts)The checkpoints would be between the corridors and State or Federal lands beyond.
Again, just a thought if the country Balkanizes.
Bev54
(12,690 posts)Bev54
(12,690 posts)GenThePerservering
(2,968 posts)Most here have no idea what "the 5" would ever be.
And the idea of states along the I-5 corridor participating in a trade route is great.
haele
(14,432 posts)I happen to live off " the 94". We would take "the 805" to get to UTC and Miramar. And take " the 15" to get to Las Vegas.
Anyway, regionalisms aside, a duty free corridor alongside Interstate 5 from TJ to Vancouver BC would be a dream, but so long as Congress controls the ability to make trade deals, the DOT and DoC controlling funding and regulations for the traffic along the interstate itself, it would be tricky to get a high capacity corridor through those states without spending trillions to get it built.
We wouldn't be able to just use I-5. That's a Federal interstate highway.
Id like to see it happen, though
Fiendish Thingy
(20,205 posts)Possibly because its only in the talking about it stage.
Construction would take until 2028 to become operational.
I look forward to getting more solid information beyond a tweet about this.
Bluetus
(1,342 posts)Last edited Sat Jul 26, 2025, 10:55 AM - Edit history (1)
** Please see notes below about the source of this video and the reliability of its contents **This is a very elaborate plan that cuts the US out of over $100Bn a year in fees. Trump has started something he cannot control. Now that Mexico and Canada have done the work of architecting a system that cuts the US out of their trade, they have little incentive to work with Trump, even if he did a 180 tomorrow.
According to this video, some key parts of this plan go into effect within the next 12 months. It will cost loads of port jobs . And it will hurt US manufacturing, especially in the car industry.
ABOUT THE VIDEO
Some caution is encouraged. This video makes claims about details that go far beyond anything reported on major new outlets. It may be:
1) Wishful thinking
2) Propaganda
3) Gaslighting aimed at Trump's MAGA base to sow discontent
4) Very well informed analysis that has access to information that Canada and Mexico aren't eager to discuss publicly at this stage.
The Youtube side states this mission:
With our analytical approach and region-focused reporting, we help you make sense of the forces shaping todays global order.
Subscribe to our channel to stay informed on the key developments driving international economics and power balances always from an experts perspective.
Fiendish Thingy
(20,205 posts)As well as by all the Canadian networks
I am suspicious why it hasnt.
Not by a single one of them.
Bluetus
(1,342 posts)The "respectable" news coverage is much less detailed than this video.
However, I am going to leave the video up as an example of the kind of agitation that people may be pushing into MAGA world to shake them loose from Trump.
WarGamer
(17,598 posts)
Bluetus
(1,342 posts)I have doubts about the timetable. I think the video is too optimistic on some of that.
The video glosses over the benefits of trucking goods over land in the US. The video implies that Canada and Mexico can conduct their trade via ship. I question that they will have sufficient ships any time soon, but they can certainly move in that direction.
Do you doubt that Pardo and Carney have discussed all these initiatives? THey actually are rather obvious responses to a bully trying to threaten extortion.
So please, tell us where you think the video is wrong.
Bev54
(12,690 posts)so much detail. I do know in the video the port at Prince Rupert was already built up for the LNG to be sent to Asia, so it is not much of a stretch to increase more. Trudeau started a lot of this during Trump's first term and now I think they are speeding it up under Carney. As Trudeau also negotiated trade with the European Union, was just waiting for them to all give final approval. The digital sales tax that Carney dropped was a result of Trudeau tired of waiting for the world organization and brought in on his own as they were getting other countries onside. Carney gave it up as some have misread as capitulation but he knows it is coming anyway, so we will just wait a bit longer.
Sorry edit because I forgot the link
https://www.freightnews.co.za/article/skipping-the-us-mexico-and-canada-enter-into-trade-bypass-agreement
Bluetus
(1,342 posts)I don't think the video should be completely dismissed, mainly because these things are EXACTLY what one would expect Carney and Pardo to be discussing. And every other major economy as well. I do have some doubts about the speed with which all these things can happen. I think the video is probably too optimistic about that.
Ports are vitally important, and the US has enjoyed a strong advantage here since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. We maintained that advantage by providing an efficient service at a fair price. But Trump is changing all that The tariffs make it extremely expensive to use our ports, so countries are going to cut the US out of these deals. And the worst part of this is that once these bilateral arrangements get going and the foreign ports built out, that business will never come back, even if we eliminate the tariffs altogether.
Another irony is that the US ports had a natural advantage over most of the Canadian ports because of the weather. But with global climate change, more Canadian locations are in play to become major ports, including in the Arctic Circle routes.
Trump understands NONE of these things. His decisions are making the US less and less influential on the world stage. Meanwhile, we continue to spend a huge portion of our GDP on military systems that are ineffective in 2025 and health care that costs 2X what any other country pays. This is not sustainable.
The Conductor
(190 posts)Look up the massive plans to improve Roberts Bank Terminal 2 in British Columbia to be more efficient at moving container freight. That is, in fact, a year-round port already. So is the Port of Prince Rupert. Down Mexico way, there are the Port of Ensenada, the Port of Lázaro Cárdenas, the Port of Chiapas, and the Port of Manzanillo. They could cut us out and save billions with only a couple billion investment. That part of the video is certainly doable.
Bluetus
(1,342 posts)The economic consequences of Trump's insane tariff bullying will reverberate for a century. There are about 440,000,000 people in South America. Mexico could set itself up as a distribution point to S. America. There is no reason for the Asian industries to run any of that through the US.
And as containerized shipping and automated loading/handling continue to increase in sophistication, one can easily imagine a rail link between Lazaro Cardenas and Veracruz that could become a viable alternative to the Panama Canal, over the next 20 years or so.
Trump doesn't understand he has no leverage. He is just setting our country up to lose.
The Conductor
(190 posts)Customs sealed and bonded railcars already pass between Canada and the U.S.. Since the goods are never unsealed or delivered in the U.S., there is no duty (or the duty is deferred). This can be done starting today, and has been part of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement negotiated and signed in 2018 by some idiot named "Donald Trump." Customs can inspect the cars and re-seal them, but with no goods destined for the U.S., so they have no ability to charge a penny of duty. Look at a rail map of North America and note how seamlessly the massive railroad CPKC (AKA Canadian Pacific Kansas City) connects across Canada and north south across the U.S. to run directly onto the rails of subsidiary Kansas City Southern de México. Container freight runs straight thru right now. The big changes advertised in the video would be the new bridge, plus diverting seaborn shipments that once went conveniently to U.S. ports to Mexico or Canada, cutting out the U.S. receiving the goods (or getting any part of them).
We are screwed, and the only thing needed is good paperwork.
Bluetus
(1,342 posts)I did not understand from the video that the basic structure for doing this was already in place to transport of the US highways and rails without extra duties.
Trump approaches this as if he can just order to the rest of the world and they will do nothing in response. But even if they do make some short-term concessions, they are all making plans that cut the US out of our power position, and we will never get that back.
Bernardo de La Paz
(57,295 posts)BOSSHOG
(43,445 posts)Orrex
(65,655 posts)FuzzyRabbit
(2,173 posts)Someone is intentionally destroying the nation for the benefit of his foreign owner.
Bev54
(12,690 posts)aeromanKC
(3,685 posts)(And I'm a US Veteran)
BOSSHOG
(43,445 posts)FakeNoose
(38,026 posts)
calimary
(87,191 posts)AGAIN.
Cha
(313,263 posts)that this will happen!
I think that's what Traitor and Putin are going for.. "the end of America".
Unless they're STOPPED.
Amaryllis
(10,596 posts)future, but in the long game, anything that stops him will be to our (and the world's ) benefit and is cause for celebration. And it is so satisfying to see them outsmart them. They are just quietly going about doing what is best for them.
Cha
(313,263 posts)all this time on DU and knowing what the Traitor and the cult are capable of and how they're going about it.. it's not as Shocking as it could be.
OT Amaryllis, I didn't see any news of any Families First Protests on Kauai today or any news of it elsewhere?
Mahalo!
Amaryllis
(10,596 posts)and the focus at this moment is on One Million Rising. They feel that is the way to grow this movement and we need numbers and to reach beyond the demographics we currently have. Do you listen to the What's the Plan with Ezra and Leah each week? That is the best way to keep current on what is happening.
To sign up for upcoming ones:
https://www.mobilize.us/indivisible/event/773746/
They are all posted on You Tube. Highly recommend the last two. THey explain ONe Million Rising which is really a new direction for them. This is the most current one from Thursday:
They worked with experts on authoritarianism to construct these trainings.
Cha
(313,263 posts)For the link and this Vid from Tuesday.
One Million Rising!
Amaryllis
(10,596 posts)helped them put together the One Million Rising training. THey are getting very scientific about all this!
https://www.nokings.org/rise
BaronChocula
(3,036 posts)He assumes everyone is either like him or they are weak. Except there are many strong people who are nothing like him. First of all he is his own league of stupidity when it comes Democratic heads of state. He thinks allies have no choice but to buckle under to his ham-fisted, ill-planned threats. The only reason it's worked at all to this point is because infrastructure of our alliances and trade have been cemented in years of trust and therefor there's been no reason to invest in the cost of reorganizing international intercourse (stop giggling)... until now.
The more intelligent leaders of the world now know how serious Trump is - seriously stupid. The cost of reorganizing is now well worth it for them. I wish our allies the very best as they create workarounds to isolate this demented dope.