USA

The controversy over American tariffs has quickly escalated from a corrective action supposedly prompted by complaints about the porosity of both the southern and northern borders of the United States, to a comprehensive attempt to reset America’s commercial relations with the world, to restore the strength of American manufacturing and to discontinue trade and foreign aid practices from the Cold War, which were effectively bribes to persuade a variety of foreign governments to remain in the western, rather than the Soviet, sphere of influence. Following the Second World War, there was a great wave of decolonization, most of it — such as in the old British Raj, which included present-day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan — voluntarily, but some of it — such as Algeria, Indochina and up to a point, Kenya and Cyprus — violently and painfully. As the Cold War developed, the foreign aid practices of the U.S. and other western countries (including Canada) had a humanitarian component topped up by the political understanding that recipient countries would remain passably co-operative with the West.

We don’t like it but it was inevitable.

Whenever we talk about NATO it’s usually in the context of money — or the famous all-for-one, one-for-all treaty clause known as Article 5.

The provision is the bedrock of the Western military alliance, allowing leaders from Latvia to London to Ottawa to sleep better at night knowing more than two dozen other like-minded nations have their backs.

What often doesn’t get much attention is the preceding paragraph: Article 4.

No one really likes Trudeau so I am not surprised. Possession of Greenland paints Denmark as a colonial power a major no no in Euro-Land.

OTTAWA — Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre warned U.S. President Donald Trump to not turn a “loyal friend into a resentful neighbour” with his incessant threats of tariffs on key sectors to the Canadian economy and of making Canada into the 51st state.

The shared U.S.-Canadian border has been a growing battleground in the midst of U.S. President Donald Trump’s border demands and tariff talks.

Recent data from the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) have revealed a trend – based on weight, Canadian border agents have seized significantly more illicit drugs coming from the U.S. than those heading south.

In 2024, border agents intercepted almost 8.3 million grams of illegal drugs coming from the U.S. – a 118 per cent increase from 2022, according to the CBSA.

Canada’s premiers visited Washington this week to make the case for open trade, but influential figures in the president’s circle see tariffs as the path to prosperity.

Another week, and another round of tariff threats and annexation suggestions from President Trump.

It began with the announcement of a policy imposing 25 percent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports. In Canada’s case, those tariffs would be stacked on top of the previously introduced 25 percent tariffs on most Canadian exports, which are in a 30-day holding period. If Mr. Trump follows through on both, the rate on steel and aluminum will be a staggering 50 percent.