USA

The US began collecting a 10% “baseline” tariff on all imports on Saturday as President Donald Trump urged Americans to “hang tough” after market turmoil.

The UK and France are among hundreds of countries impacted and its leaders have said nothing is off the table. While China, which has been hit the hardest by President Trump’s tariffs, announced a significant retaliatory response.

All three major stock indexes in the US plunged more than 5% on Friday, with the S&P 500 dropping almost 6%, capping the worst week for the US stock market since 2020.

As geopolitical friction between Canada and the United States intensifies, particularly on the trade front, the real battleground may not be in boardrooms or policy circles – it may be in grocery aisles across the country.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent made it clear in an interview with CNN that the era of trade imbalances is over, and under President Trump, the U.S. will no longer tolerate unfair treatment.

During a discussion with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Bessent confidently explained the administration’s position on tariffs and trade policy, signaling that Trump’s economic strategy is deliberate and well thought out.

h/t DS

In these disorienting days, Canadian leaders are responding in real time to a deeply uncertain world.

On the day the president of the United States launched a global trade war, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith chose to look on the bright side. The United States, she wrote, had decided to “uphold the majority of the free trade agreement … between our two nations.” And while some tariffs remained in place, “it appears the worst of this tariff dispute is behind us.”

More ginned up scare mongering from Carney’s CBC.

Food for thought …

The final days of British Steel.
Chinese owners are preparing for its closure.

Britain invented the steel industry. A key part of a powerhouse industrial base. But sadly, Britain’s industries have been hollowed out, sold off & communities left to rot.

pic.twitter.com/PRuT4bCeoA

— James Melville (@JamesMelville) April 5, 2025

h/t Mauser

“One of the messages that I’d like to get out tonight is: everybody, sit back, take a deep breath. Don’t immediately retaliate. Let’s see where this goes. Because if you retaliate, that’s how we get escalation.” So said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday amid the global upheaval caused by Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff rollout. Bessent’s call for serenity is landing on deaf ears, but for panicked allies in North America, his advice may be worth heeding.

General Motors says that it plans to hire an unspecified number of temporary employees at its Fort Wayne, Indiana, assembly plant in the wake of a U.S. tariff on imported vehicles that took effect this week.

The assembly plant in Fort Wayne manufactures the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks.

The Silverado is currently the only vehicle produced at a GM assembly plant in Oshawa that employs more than 3,000 people.

GM also produces the Silverado and Sierra at its Silao Assembly Plant in Mexico.

Pierre Poilievre said under a Conservative government Canada would make its own, sovereign decisions on increasing military spending as U.S. President Donald Trump once again puts pressure on NATO allies to boost defence budgets to 5 per cent of GDP.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio at a meeting of NATO foreign affairs ministers in Brussels said Washington expects all alliance members to commit to raising defence spending to 5 per cent of gross domestic product.

On Friday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Ingraham Angle,” Ford CEO Jim Farley stated that he’s “very encouraged that we will have a better chance for a fair and square fight,” but there do need to be details ironed out on tariffs to ensure that the parts from its vehicles that are made in other nations don’t increase in cost in a way that harms the price of vehicles.