Donald Trump has threatened to rename a lake that straddles the US-Canadian border – and the only one that shares a name with a Canadian province – as the trade feud between the two allies gets nasty.
“The United States is giving serious consideration to changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America in that we don’t expect to be doing much business with Ontario any longer,” he wrote on social media on Tuesday, US time.
Shortly after, he backed that up with an image of a map of the region showing the name Lake Ontario crossed out and replaced with “Lake America” and the US flag – notably placed over Canadian territory.
Canada’s biggest Coty Toronto sits on the shores of Lake Ontario which divides the province of Ontario from the US state of New York. Niagara Falls is close to Lake Ontario.
Mr Trump’s remarks came hours after Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario, Canada’s most populous state which also includes the capital of Ottawa, said Mr Trump could “kiss his a**” after even more tariffs were flagged for Canada. Mr Trump called jim a “loser”.
On Tuesday, Canada said it would levy $C27.6bn ($27.9bn) worth of counter tariffs on the US.
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‘Lake America’
The day he took office in 2024, Mr Trump signed an executive order directing government departments replace their use of The Gulf of Mexico name with Gulf of America. While some US companies now also refer to “Gulf of America” it’s not a legally binding term and it’s not the internationally recognised name.
Similarly, if Mr Trump signed an order to rename Lake Ontario it could not be legally demanded Americans actually use the term, nor would it have any effect on Canada’s, or any other nation’s, name for the body of water.
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The highly-publicised rift between the two nations has become increasingly personal over recent weeks, with Mr Trump demanding the northerner’s “fall in line” with the US.
Talks collapsed late last week after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney rejected conditions he said would restrict Canada’s ability to negotiate trade agreements with other countries.
The US disputes that account, accusing Ottawa of introducing new demands and abandoning earlier commitments.
Washington subsequently imposed 50 per cent tariffs on more than 550 Canadian products worth about $US20 billion ($28 billion).
On Tuesday, Canada announced almost $30bn worth of US counters tariffs that will come into effect on September 8. They will be on a sliding scale of between 15 and 50 per cent and will include seafood, furniture, paper products tools and motorbikes. A 50 per cent levy will apply to some dairy and lumber products and cosmetics. Tariffs on US steel and aluminium will rise from 25 per cent to 50 per cent.
In the run up to that announcement, a furious Mr Trump has been sledging Canada on social media.
“Over the last 10 years, the United States lost, on average, 60 Billion Dollars a year with Canada,” Mr Trump wrote.
According the Office of the US Trade Representatives, in 2024 the US had a goods trade deficit with Canada of $US48.3bn – that included commodities like lumbar, oil and cars. But that’s partly offset by a US surplus of $US27.7bn of services to Canada which includes Canadians travelling to the US as well as telecommunications, streaming services and IT.
Mr Trump also said Canada had been “ripping off” the US “for decades”.
“They have been charging our Farmers 400 per cent Tariffs, and more.
“I deal with many countries, and Canada is easily the most difficult and unreasonable. They feel entitled, but they are not a State, and will be entitled no longer!”
Canada does have tariffs on US dairy products but only above a certain quota, which has never been exceeded.
The US President also hit back at suggestions from Ottawa that one of the reason that talks fell apart was that Washington DC was trying to dilute Canada’s bilingual language laws. These demand, for instance, that products on Canadian supermarket shelves – including imports – must be labelled in English and French.
“I would never interfere with Canadians speaking French!” Mr Trump insisted.
“In fact, I have never even thought of doing such a stupid thing. This lie was made up by a weak and ineffective Prime Minister in an attempt to gain political support, which he has totally lost, from the people of Quebec. I love French Canadians!”
‘Kiss my a**’
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Canadians were prepared to endure economic damage rather than concede to Washington.
“We’re all in,” he said. “Up here, we’re at a fever pitch; everyone’s in for an economic war. They know they’re going to have to sacrifice.”
Ford threatened to restrict Ontario’s exports of electricity and critical minerals if the dispute worsened. He also said Canada should consider using oil and potash as leverage.
Mr Ford added the US president could “kiss my a***.”
The Ontario leader also said former Republican president Ronald Reagan, an opponent of protectionism, would be “throwing up” over Mr Trump’s tariff policies.
Trump responded by attacking Ford personally, describing him as less intelligent and charismatic than his late brother, former Toronto mayor Rob Ford.
After rejecting what he called a “bad deal,” Prime Minister Carney announced retaliatory tariffs effective September 8.
He said these will target US steel and dairy industries, while also covering sectors like agricultural equipment, paper and electronics.
The government statement released late on Monday said ministers will “announce new measures to protect and support Canadian workers and businesses during these challenging times.”
Mr Carney said on Monday that the goal of trade talks with Washington “has always been to get the best deal for Canadians, never a deal at any price or on any time frame”.
– With AFP.
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