Canada says it has come under economic attack from the US

**Alex Ritzen** (0:00)
This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Alex Ritzen and in the early hours of Sunday 23rd August, these are our main stories. Canada promises to match Donald Trump's whinging tariffs dollar for dollar as the old allies enter a full on trade war. Fired for Insubordination, the editor of America's official military newspaper, South Korea becomes the latest country to send a container ship through a new arctic trade route despite warnings.
Also in this podcast, Lightning Bolt, the humanoid robot that has smashed Usain Bolt's 100 meter world record in China.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:45)
I'm very surprised by the improvements. I feel very proud of our country's technological advancement.

**Alex Ritzen** (0:57)
For decades, the United States and Canada weren't just neighbours, they were the closest of allies. But President Trump's global trade war has seriously fractured their relationship, which had flourished under their free trade partnership. Washington and Ottawa were in trade talks, but these broke down on Friday. Canada walked away, claiming that at the 11th hour, US negotiators wanted to introduce unfair restrictions on Canadian trade deals with other countries. After the talks collapsed, as Mr Trump had threatened, he imposed 50% tariffs on nearly $20 billion worth of Canadian imports. Doug Ford, the Premier of the Canadian province of Ontario, gave this scathing response.

**Doug Ford** (1:40)
President Trump, he can't be trusted. Simple as that. He changes the deal. He keeps moving the goalpost. You know, let me tell you about President Trump. President Trump is the type of person that would steal your lunch money the first day.
He'd steal the tuque off your head the second day, and the third day he'd steal your running shoes. He is not to be trusted whatsoever. We need to stay united.

**Alex Ritzen** (2:04)
The US Trade Representative Jameson Greer said that Ottawa had made new demands and walked back from other commitments. He added that Washington had no plans to restart negotiations.

**Jameson Greer** (2:16)
We don't have new talks planned with the Canadians. We're moving forward with measures that respond to Canadian retaliation. Remember, as President Trump has introduced a trade policy to reshore American production and protect American jobs, two countries have retaliated against the United States, the People's Republic of China and Canada. Our interest is in protecting American workers and protecting American supply chains.

**Alex Ritzen** (2:37)
The Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has promised to retaliate against Washington's new tariffs with duties on US products include steel and dairy, as well as pressing ahead with building new trade relationships. Our North America correspondent David Willis told me that this dispute will lead to economic pain on both sides of the border.

**David Willis** (2:58)
I think the bottom line here, Alex, is that nobody really benefits from trade wars, trade conflicts of this kind. And these latest US tariffs will affect about 5% of Canadian exports to the US. That's not a huge amount, but they will apply to a wide array of goods, a very diverse array of goods, ranging from alcohol to building materials. And to put that into perspective, about 80% of Canadian goods will still enter the United States tariff free. Nonetheless, it's a policy that threatens to heighten tensions between the United States and Canada, to make negotiations over a new U.S.-Canada-Mexico trade agreement, all the more difficult. And it will impact the economies of both nations, because potentially it could weaken investment in Canada and put jobs at risk there. It could push up prices here in the United States. What would be a very unfortunate time, of course, for President Trump, just three months, less than three months to go to the midterm elections here, where one of the crucial issues is likely to be inflation, the so-called affordability crisis here in the United States. Indeed, already one US. Senator, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, that's a state which borders Canada, has warned of the possibility of rising costs for businesses there because of this dispute.

**Alex Ritzen** (4:31)
I suppose President Trump would say that all this could be avoided if only Canada would agree to become the 51st state.

**David Willis** (4:38)
That's right and that's one of the things that he's said in the past that has really infuriated the Canadians, of course, and Canada is now preparing to retaliate with tariffs of its own that are set to come into place in just a couple of weeks' time. Those are expected to target US farmers with tariffs on dairy appliances, other agricultural equipment as well.
Mark Carney eluded to the mistrust that now exists between Canada and the United States. You mentioned those rapidly deteriorating relations over President Trump's comments, Alex, there, and as Mark Carney said, the new US tariffs were designed, as he put it, to hurt Canada and divide its citizens. He said the United States was, in his words, trying to break Canada so that it could own the country. A reference, presumably, to what you were just talking about there, Alex, of President Trump's remarks about the 51st state.