Day: February 10, 2025

ICYMI: Trump has teased two of the US’s biggest trading partners with levies but has moved the goalpost at least three times in two weeks

Donald Trump was in his element in the Oval Office this week. Surrounded by cameras, flanked by billionaire allies and confronted by a barrage of questions about whether he was really prepared to unleash a trade war on the US’s closest neighbors, the president talked tough.

By his telling, powerful economies were scrambling to bend to his will. Hours earlier, Mexico had announced a series of measures to shore up its border, prompting the White House to hastily postpone the imposition of 25% tariffs on all its goods; Canada would announce similar measures, and receive the same reprieve, later that day. Continue reading…
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Numerous Canadian projects are in limbo as the world’s largest aid funder freezes funding, and it’s unclear what will happen to millions of dollars Ottawa had sent to USAID.
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The Niagara Falls, Ont., tourist attraction euthanized a young beluga whale last week after a lengthy battle with numerous medical issues.
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The Saskatchewan government is warning the public about fake ads for online versions of the province’s casinos.
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The US president’s tariffs pose as worker protection, but they’re a smokescreen – his bluster trades US credibility for a $4.6tn tax-cutting giveaway to the rich

In 2020, Donald Trump scrapped the North American free trade agreement, replacing it with the “United States Mexico Canada agreement”, which he bragged was “the fairest, most balanced, and beneficial” trade deal ever. That agreement between the three nations explicitly bans tariff hikes beyond what was agreed. Yet, on his return to the White House, Mr Trump immediately threatened steep levies on goods from Canada and Mexico – the US’s key allies – retreating only after they made token concessions on drugs and illegal immigration. Now, he’s vowing fresh steel and aluminum tariffs, a direct hit on Canada.

Mr Trump is exploiting presidential emergency powers to push these tariffs with no real constraints. The bottom line is the US is breaking its word. Friends, such as the EU and the UK, as well as opponents like China are also under threat. Allies will think twice before signing deals with Washington, fearing future betrayals. Yet Mr Trump’s administration doesn’t care – it thrives on defying global norms. Skipping this year’s G20 summit – citing host South Africa’s focus on diversity, equality and climate action, alongside Elon Musk’s fixation on white South African farmers – Mr Trump’s team is mulling an exit from the IMF and World Bank. Continue reading…
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