USA

OTTAWA — President Donald Trump’s envoy to Canada says some level of American tariffs on Canadian products is the new normal, holding out only slim hope that direct talks between Trump and Prime Minister Mark Carney could see them lifted entirely.

U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra said in an interview with the Star that the president and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick are deep into private discussions with Canada to establish what Carney calls a new economic and security relationship, and said Trump and Lutnick indicated “tariffs are a part of the framework moving forward.”

Canadian public sentiment towards the United States has plummeted to new depths, a new report suggests, revealing how decades of Canadian goodwill toward its southern neighbour have reversed mere months after President Donald Trump took office.

The survey, conducted by the Environics Institute for Survey Research, also found the vast majority of respondents were strongly opposed to Canada becoming the 51st state.

“It’s really the worst collective opinions of the U.S. that we have recorded” in the more than 40 years the institute has been keeping track, said Keith Neuman, a senior associate at the Environics Institute for Survey Research. “By more than a two-to-one margin, Canadians’ opinions are negative rather than positive.”

Prime Minister Mark Carney and U.S. President Donald Trump are having direct discussions to reach a trade deal and lift tariffs, according to sources with knowledge of their talks.

It is unclear how often the two have communicated since Carney’s visit to the White House last month, but a source with direct knowledge of the calls said the conversations are aimed at reaching an agreement on the trade war launched by the U.S. against Canada.

In a world increasingly defined by energy affordability, geopolitical instability and economic uncertainty, the United States is once again talking about energy dominance.

President Trump has made it a central pillar of his agenda, vowing to “unleash American energy” to lower prices, strengthen the economy and restore U.S. global leadership. National Energy Dominance Council Chair Doug Burgum echoed that vision recently, arguing that U.S. energy dominance is the “foundation of American prosperity.”

As fears of refugee deportation mount in the United States, a surge of asylum seekers is turning to Canada — only to find a border that is getting increasingly hard to cross.

The number of refugee seekers processed by the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) has shot up by 87 per cent between January and April.