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Call in the US debt

Q: Does the US owe Canada any money?

A:Yes, Canada holds U.S. debt, specifically U.S. Treasury securities. As of April 2026, Canada owned approximately $397.1 billion in U.S. Treasuries.

I say we call that in, get our money back to pay for the tariffs Trump is imposing. Distribute the money to the companies hardest hit.

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whowasthatmaskedman · 70-79, M

Your idea has merit. But the number isnt big enough to do serios damage by itself. Now if they were to time the sell down just as a nation like Japan was selling off more $US the power of the punch would be doubled. And you got me thinking "What if Canada joined BRICS"? Then America would have to buy a third currency to pay for everything they used from Canada, and all those cross border transfer deals would be a nightmare. The fallout would be a diplomatic nightmare for both sides. But Canada could end up owning a lot of US company assets based in Canada for cents on the dollar..😷

JollyRoger · 70-79, M

@whowasthatmaskedman Wow...That's almost as good as a "shot in the dark" - in the right direction , of course!

whowasthatmaskedman · 70-79, M

@JollyRoger Just to be absolutely clear. If the majority of trading nations decided tomorrow that is was worth some temporary pain, the US economy could be collapsed before the mid terms. And depending on how those Mid terms look to other powerful countries, thats just possible..😷

Iwillwait · M

Great idea

Northwest · M

That's not really how it works.

Are these Treasury Bonds? They mature in 20 or 30 years and pay interest every six months until they reach this final date.

Are they Treasury Notes? They mature in 2 to 10 years.

Are they Treasury Bills? They mature in one year or less.

and there's more. In any case, the type of Bond determines how Canada gets paid and it may not work out for Canada. And no, it's not like calling a bank loan.

romell · 51-55, M

Eggzactly

DownTheStreet · 56-60, M

Umm. How much Canadian debt does the USA hold?

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JollyRoger · 70-79, M

@DownTheStreet And...with our current debt load + the projected debt load (Build Canada) + the projected payouts to "affected people "... calling in the USA markers - mightn't it leave Canada open (financially) to a economic takeover by some other country?

tenente · 36-40, M

@DownTheStreet

Anyways the bigger concern around Canada is the sluggish real per capita gdp growth - from 2014 to 2024 it grew just 1%. Which is awful; the USA grew 19%

Unfair comparison my friend.

CAN is minerals, mining, banks and regulation galore + aggressive immigration (your 'per capita' denominator grew ridiculously.)

We've got a sexy tech sector and less regulation so investors love us (for now - AI is the narrow market leader and on the verge of collapse.)

Some day that is going to end.

I saw the Treasury buy mature bonds this month. I think "some day" is now.

**edit "by" to "buy"

tenente · 36-40, M

@JollyRoger

And...with our current debt load + the projected debt load (Build Canada) + the projected payouts to "affected people "... calling in the USA markers - mightn't it leave Canada open (financially) to a economic takeover by some other country?

Canada can’t call in US debt, treasuries aren’t callable. Selling won’t create new money, wouldn’t pay for tariffs, wouldn’t expose Canada to takeover. It would mostly just damage Canada’s own financial position 🤷‍♂

CookieCrumbs · F

The proposal is not logically sound in the way it’s framed.

Canada (or any foreign holder) can’t “call in” U.S. debt like a demand loan, and even selling those Treasuries wouldn’t give Canada a pot of cash it could simply redistribute to offset U.S. tariffs.

romell · 51-55, M

@CookieCrumbs sorry disagree it could definitely harm american interest ..weaken bonds ..weaken sentiments across to buy the treasuries

CookieCrumbs · F

@romell
Agree it could hurt U.S. financial conditions, but only in the SHORT term: big sales would push yields up and rattle sentiment.

But Canada can’t ‘call in’ the debt, only sell it on the market, and with ~$0.4T vs $40T+ of U.S. debt, it’s more of a shock than a leverage.

It would also hit Canada’s own balance sheet and credibility. So it’s a costly, risky move, not a clean way to offset tariffs if that’s the goal here.

It would cause more issues than fix them.
Sure, plausible, but one-sided with the intent to just be dramatic about it.
That’s just my take on this. :)

You see it differently, that’s fine.

romell · 51-55, M

@CookieCrumbs with a suicidal president of usa what's gone logical till now?

tenente · 36-40, M

"mutually assured financial destruction" is fun to think about but another thing to do (also, sovereign debt doesn't work that way...) But, the game has changed hasn't it? Retaliation is on the table now. Reciprocal tariffs don't compare to your margin call atom bomb. But, Canada PM Carney opened the eyes of the world - you can fight back.

JollyRoger · 70-79, M

@tenente Yes...We would/will fight. I just hope "The World" recognizes that we cannot fight alone. My suggestion (if it comes to a real fight) would be for all democratic countries to impose a set of total trade sanctions on the USA. That would upset the Presidency and let the American people know how their own government's sanctioning actions hurt people instead of hurting governments.

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romell · 51-55, M

@BlueGreenGrey if Canada sells in secondary market ,it could push some panic buttons ..n crash us economy n markets

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romell · 51-55, M

@BlueGreenGrey well said but you never know it could be the Chinese or russian s

Just4fun · 56-60, M

Not exactly how that works unfortunately

CookieCrumbs · F

@Just4fun
Thanks for pointing that out.

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