US-Canada: Trump signs an executive order, renaming Lake Ontario as Lake America. Carney: “Ontario today and always”
“We have a gulf and we have a lake. All we’re missing is an ocean,” commented the president, referring also to the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America
Donald Trump has signed an executive order to rename Lake Ontario as Lake America, at a time of heightened tensions between the United States and Canada. The change takes effect ‘immediately’.
“We have a gulf and we have a lake. All we’re missing is an ocean,” commented the president, referring also to the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
The Canadian response was not long in coming: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney reported that he had told US President Donald Trump that Lake Ontario is called that ‘today and always will be’.
The Canada-US tariffs row
The United States and Canada are embroiled in a trade dispute: the tycoon’s latest outburst follows the Trump administration’s decision – announced at the weekend – to impose 50 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods worth $20 billion, following the breakdown of negotiations between the two countries. A decision to which Ottawa was quick to retaliate, declaring in turn that, from 8 September, tariffs ranging from 15 per cent to 50 per cent will be imposed on a range of US products.
At a press conference, the Canadian Finance Minister, François-Philippe Champagne, spoke of tariffs worth 20 billion dollars, or 28 billion Canadian dollars , on steel, dairy products, household appliances and a range of other goods originating in the US.
