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[–] 79 points 1 month ago (29 children)

All this because some manufacturers in the US can't be bothered to include instructions in French, or a sticker in French to cover the English buttons on a microwave oven. Our laws state that French must be available for products that are sold. That's all they have to comply with.

If Chinese and other international companies can comply and get away with it by providing badly machine translated crap, in the age of AI slop, American companies can also make that "effort" if they want to be able to sell us their stuff. They can fuck off and keep their shit if they don't even want to bother trying.

I may speak English but my family doesn't; they need their badly translated instructions. It's absolutely worth a commercial war over this. They have no idea of who we are. We did not resist assimilation for centuries to end up being told to speak white by US companies.

Y peuvent bien manger d'la marde.

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  • [–] 27 points 1 month ago (5 children)

    This has to be about humiliating you guys more than about actual costs.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 month ago (2 children)

    It's about trying to start shit. If you accept it you're one step closer to annexation and if you refuse and continue trade disputes and you'll end up one step closer to war. They need a major war and they don't care with who.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 month ago (1 child)

    They need a major war and they don’t care with who.

    Is Iran not major enough?

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  • [–] 3 points 1 month ago

    Clearly it's not given it's not legally a war which is what they need for war powers and the fact that they're attempting to start a war with Denmark, China and pretty literally every mildly democratic country south of the border.

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  • [–] 13 points 1 month ago (5 children)

    I doubt anyone on the US side really cares about adding French labeling. He’s thrown in these language demands at the last minute to derail the deal because it’s a power move.

    If I had to guess I’d say he’s trying to shake down some American companies that want the deal to go through and/or he’s still aiming to make Canada the 51st state and this is his latest move.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 month ago (4 children)

    I doubt anyone on the US side really cares about adding French labeling.

    Flipping the cereal box over burns calories.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 month ago (3 children)

    When I put together a cabinet, it had several different languages on the instructions. I just tossed them in the trash, it’s no big deal. Almost everything you buy has several sets of directions in different languages.

    Businesses are already doing it and no one cares about continuing to print instructions or caution labels in French. I seriously doubt Trump had read instructions or caution labels of any kind in 20 years.

    But Trump loves tariffs because he can pick winners and losers and force businesses to grovel at his feet and collect kick backs. What better way to get kickbacks than messing with the trade deal for our largest trading partner.

    There is likely some other play to enrich himself at hand. Dissing the French labeling is a great way to sabotage a deal to enable that play.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 month ago (2 children)

    American companies complain they can't compete in world trade, while refusing to translate simple words and instructions. This despite the 1trillion dollars invested in the A.I. industry, that in theory should be able to make translations instantly and accurately.

    French is again going to be the most spoken language on Earth in 30 years. Most of N. Africa speaks French.

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  • [–] -5 points 1 month ago (10 children)

    I mean French is also a "white" language only thrust onto other people by colonization in places like Algeria. That said it's weird to be racist about someone making racist attacks that effect your family.

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  • [–] 5 points 1 month ago (5 children)

    It's a specific reference to Québec's history. We were told that our language was not French anymore, and were not considered "white" by some English speakers.

    According to the linguist, testimonies from francophone Canadians reporting being told to speak white stretch into the 1980s, although the expression has become marginal in the 21st century.

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  • [–] -3 points 1 month ago (4 children)

    Sure so again, your response to contemporary racism is niche historical racism?

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  • [–] 2 points 1 month ago (3 children)
  • [–] -5 points 1 month ago (2 children)

    I was quite clear. Responding to racism with niche historical racism is very weird.

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  • [–] 5 points 1 month ago (1 child)

    No. Maybe it's because English is not my native language but I just don't understand your replies at all. Are you telling me I'm being racist? If so, why?

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  • [+] -6 points 1 month ago

    I was quite clear, you're being weird. They're not saying be more white they're saying you're American act American which is bigoted and stupid just not in the way you imply. And yes I'm implying it's a bit racist to respond to bigotry with racism.

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