Tax liability from investment income in Canada - RESP/TFSA

[CdnAmerican]

Hi all - I just wanted to get some info from the collective wisdom in the group. I am a USC in Canada, and have been in Canada for over a decade. I have an RESP here (for better or worse). I have always filed 3520s and am up to date. I've always been able to deduct all/almost all of my earned income through the 2555, and have never wound up having to pay any US tax despite occasional gains made from the RESP (all mutual fund gains, counted as mark-to-market each year).

I am self-employed for this year, and am a little worried about the US tax changes for 2018. My specific questions are this:
1) Can I assume that I can likely eliminate all of my US tax on earned income by a combination of 2555/1116 forms (noting Cdn tax is higher than US tax)?
2) Will I owe no tax on RESP income, as long as that income (after accounting for exchange rate fluctuation) I am under the $24K standard deduction level?

Thanks in advance! Short answers are fine - this is a hypothetical but I am wanting to plan for this year.

[nelsona]

I would think that you would be LESS likely to have to pay any US tax now, given that you no longer have to itemize to get that much deductions.
In the past you had to put some effort to get up to that level, using Cdn tax, mortgage, etc as deductions. Now it is a no brainer.

remember that self-employed need to get documentation that you're not required to pay SE tax on your self-employed income.

[CdnAmerican]

Thanks nelsona! Yes, I always attach documentation about SE tax (when employed, or now self-employed) and that has worked in the past.

It seems highly likely that my RESP will earn under $24K unless there is a true banner year (or an exchange rate implosion), so I think I will be ok. I just wanted to make sure I was reading that right with the updated tax code.