USA

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Time’s up. On Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump raised the tariff rate on Canadian goods not covered under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) from 25 to 35 per cent, saying they “have to pay a fair rate.” The White House claims it’s because of Canada’s failure to curb the “ongoing flood of fentanyl and other illicit drugs.” U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data, however, show that fentanyl seizures from Canada make up less than 0.1 per cent of total U.S. seizures of the drug; most smuggling comes across the Mexican border.

Canada’s biggest shield against U.S. tariffs is still intact after Donald Trump’s latest trade deadline, but that could change by next year, experts warn, as Prime Minister Mark Carney prepares for a new round of talks with the mercurial American president.

While Trump raised the tariff on Canadian goods to 35 per cent in an executive order Thursday night, an exemption for goods which comply with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) was maintained. The order was signed after Ottawa and Washington failed to reach an economic and security deal.

Shortly after his January inauguration, U.S. President Donald Trump made the peculiar decision to remove a portrait of the great Thomas Jefferson from the Oval Office and replace it with a portrait of James Polk.

Jefferson was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence and the third American president. Polk, the eleventh president, launched the Mexican-American War and expanded the reach of American sovereignty from what is now Texas to Washington State, and from Wyoming to California.

The trade war between the US and Canada has escalated sharply with President Donald Trump increasing the tariff rate on Canadian imports from 25% to 35%.

Most goods will avoid the increased costs entering the US market because they are currently exempted under an existing North American trade treaty. But some key products are being hit hard.

Earlier this year Canada responded with counter-tariffs of its own on tens of billions of dollars worth of American products, ranging from tomato ketchup to washing machines

Canada has now learned that the derisive acronym TACO — often slapped on U.S. President Donald Trump — is inaccurate and needs to be tweaked to something more like “Trump (Almost) Always Chickens Out.”

Despite putting decidedly lower tariffs than he’d threatened on dozens of countries around the globe and giving Mexico a 90-day reprieve from his threat to raise its tariff rate, Trump singled out Canada for an increase.

While there’s no way that Canada can characterize what happened as a win, there’s plenty of evidence that it’s not a reason for Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government to panic and do something that jeopardizes what really matters for the Canadian economy: tariff-free access to the U.S. for the vast majority of exports.

Canada’s entire national identity is a thin veneer of politeness covering a core of smug freeloading and strategic sabotage.

They rely on America for their very existence—their defense, their economic viability—while working to undermine U.S. interests at every turn.

This… pic.twitter.com/3EblqbvTD3

— Saggezza Eterna (@FinalTelegraph) July 31, 2025

It’s a good US rant against the Canadian Weasel Class though some claims are dubious such as that made against our exit from the Afghanistan debacle but overall it will resonate.

Read the whole thread.

h/t Mauser

Doug Ford says the quiet part out loud.

The loquacious Ontario premier has always been quotable, but rarely more so than when he’s railing against U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade attack on Canada.

Helpfully playing the bad cop to partner Mark Carney‘s good cop, Ford, as a subnational leader, can get away with saying things the prime minister cannot.