this post was submitted on 23 Jan 2025
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Europe

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[–] recursive_recursion@lemmy.ca 27 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I literally screamed OH SHIT! as I saw this

As a Canadian I feel like this would be such a huge win for us.

Gonna be real the NAFTA 2.0/USMCA trade agreement seems shaky at best, horrendously unstable at worst so maintaining current trade relations doesn't seem sustainable unfortunately.

[–] sp3ctre@feddit.org 8 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Yeah, I would definitely appreciate it! I like the Canadians.

Edit: Cbviously Canadians want it too: https://feddit.org/post/7162395

[–] Matombo@feddit.org 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

So you are saying LTT merch without tarifs? Nice!

[–] federalreverse@feddit.org 7 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Just gotta get those undies with the Linus Sex Tips rim for all my work besties, and cheap! /s

[–] jmcs@discuss.tchncs.de 12 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (10 children)

This would be a nightmare for Canada. Their regulations are all aligned with the US. Products would need to be adjusted, processes would need to be changed, entire product stocks would need to be offloaded. And it would make lots of Canadian products unexportable to the US.

Even something as simple as eggs have incompatible regulations in Europe and North America.

[–] Pistcow@lemm.ee 32 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Am American, would love Canada to go to EU standards and have America suffer of follow suit.

[–] Elrecoal19_0@lemmy.world 6 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Yeah, I was thinking that, if Canada's standards are so similar to the US's, the problem is adjusting to the new ones, and not the difference between them per se.

[–] lemmus@lemmy.world 6 points 2 days ago

There is a UKCA standard that has likely aligned some of Canada’s goods with EU regulation (given the UK’s current close alignment to EU regs).

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[–] albert180@discuss.tchncs.de 20 points 2 days ago (8 children)

Well washing the natural protection layers off from eggs and then having to cool them is pretty stupid, so it's obvious who should adjust their standards

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[–] kbal@fedia.io 15 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Products would need to be adjusted

O no what a nightmare

[–] jmcs@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 2 days ago

When your economy is geared to exporting mostly to a country that will not accept products made according to the new rules it is.

[–] brotundspiele@feddit.org 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

If Trump pulls through with his plans to invade Canada and Greenland, the only Canadian products exportable to the US are artillery grenades and bullets anyway.

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[–] Elrecoal19_0@lemmy.world 14 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (3 children)

For the regulations, I think slowly changing them to fit to EU standards, so industries can catch up, would be the best.

As for exports towards the US, aren't there already institutions (like the Trade and Technology Council) used by US and EU for trade to be efficient despite regulation and standard diferences?

Of course, I don't much about anything, so I'm mostly throwing stuff at the wall and see what sticks.

[–] AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space 5 points 2 days ago (4 children)

Would Canada be obliged to switch to 230V mains electricity, or could it keep 110V?

[–] philpo@feddit.org 2 points 1 day ago

Looked it up,no,they wouldn't. There are provisions for these cases (same for the UK and Ireland with their driving sides) in these regulations and most EU regulations in that regard are based in ISO anyway.

They might get funding for it from the EU, though,so it might be a fun thing to calculate the costs. Very likely it would be cheaper for Canada to slowly transfer away from it, anyway, as the rest of the world is not using it and with the US putting tarrifs on,it might be the better option.

Tbh, the "EU regulations" are often not that bad actually for the smaller user(and I work in healthcare where the medical device regulations seem nightmarish at first - once you understand them they are FAR easier than what we had before and FAR cheaper to follow than the US rules. My former employer - the world leader in their field- e.g. refused to sell in the US for that reason).

[–] barsoap@lemm.ee 3 points 1 day ago

Guyana has 120/240V 50/60Hz depending on where you are so, no, not even France has a unified grid.

[–] jmcs@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 2 days ago

I didn't even think about that one as an effective barrier to trade. That would be a shit show of epic proportions. The most realistic solution would be to make all products dual voltage to protect the single market, either directly or through a transformer in their power cable, but that would increase costs for everyone.

[–] bobs_monkey@lemm.ee 6 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Retooling the entire country would be a shit show at best, and prohibitively expensive, so they'd likely stay at their current spec. Also, energy trade is quite profitable, and for geographic regions it makes sense to keep standards aligned.

[–] jmcs@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 2 days ago (3 children)

It's not about selling electricity, it's about having a single market for electrical devices. There's no single market if most products don't work in one country. Even different AC plugs are only allowed because adapters are cheap and using different plugs for Ireland and Italy is a minor change in the production line.

[–] philpo@feddit.org 1 points 1 day ago

You grossly misunderstood what the single market means - there are of course absolutely different local regulations and customs that are used. Ireland (and the UK before they left) drive on the other side of the road, trains systems vary by nation, even electrical standards do - the single market in terms of norms means that they just have to all follow a general market admission will follow the same rules - e.g. a product needs to fully comply with the basic marke wide ruleset.

[–] bobs_monkey@lemm.ee 5 points 2 days ago (2 children)

You do realize that many companies offer multiple or variable power supplies addressing different input voltages and frequencies, right? Most consumer electronics are functionally identical, they just have a varying types of charging cable mains adapters. Larger appliances and tools are a different story, but more manufacturers are offering variability in their equipment.

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[–] AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Italy and Denmark are only different for earthed plugs, IIRC. Outside of the former British Empire, unearthed plugs within the EU are standard.

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[–] moody@lemmings.world 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

If only it was realistic to export electricity from Canada to the EU.

[–] bobs_monkey@lemm.ee 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

It's theoretically possible with HVDC (high voltage direct current), as the AC -> DC -> AC transmission conversion allows linked grids to not have their AC waves synced, though that distance would probably be stretching the boundaries of distance.

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Wait, so would this be in exchange for Greenland?

/S

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