Shane Schaetzel@ShaneSchaetzel
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As best as I can tell, the offer (if it’s real) is an attempt to end the trade war between the U.S. and Canada. U.S. membership in the Commonwealth would automatically force Canada to drop all of their tariffs they’ve been imposing on U.S. goods for decades. Likewise, the U.S. would do the same for Canadian goods, creating a truly free-trade zone. Canada could no longer shaft the U.S. for fear of losing their Commonwealth membership. Countries can be expelled from the Commonwealth for such behavior. So I can see why this might be appealing to Trump.
Still, as an American, I have reservations. While the U.S. would not surrender even 1% of sovereignty for Commonwealth membership, there are annual fees, which would be quite nominal for a big nation like the U.S. King Charles may even wave those fees to sweeten the deal for Trump. While Commonwealth membership would present some sweet tourism and relocation arrangements for Americans, it remains to be seen what kind of reciprocal arrangements would be made on the U.S. side, which I find a bit concerning. Still, the whole thing would have to be approved by Congress, since membership would be viewed as a “treaty” in a legal sense. So Trump can’t just snap his fingers and accept it if offered by the king. He could accept it symbolically, but Congress would have the final say.