WASHINGTON : US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that his administration was considering renaming Lake Ontario as “Lake America”, escalating his rhetoric against Canada as a widening trade dispute pushes relations between the two neighbours to new lows.
Trump raised the prospect in a social media post, saying the United States was giving “serious consideration” to changing the lake’s name because it did not expect to conduct much business with Ontario in the future.
The suggestion echoes Trump’s move last year to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America through an executive order.
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The latest remarks come as the United States and Canada remain locked in an increasingly bitter trade confrontation. Canada is expected to announce retaliatory measures on Tuesday after the Trump administration imposed 50% tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian goods over the weekend following the breakdown of negotiations.
Ontario, Canada’s most populous province and the heart of its automotive manufacturing industry, has emerged as a key focus of the dispute.
Trump has also threatened to impose fresh 50% tariffs on Canadian-made vehicles, auto parts and steel, increasing pressure on industries whose supply chains are closely integrated across the US-Canada border.
The rhetoric between Washington and Ottawa has intensified alongside the tariff measures. On Monday, Trump warned Canadian leaders to “fall in line” or face consequences significantly worse than the tariffs already imposed.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has responded sharply, accusing Washington of seeking to subordinate Canada and arguing that US trade demands threaten some of the country’s most important industries.
Carney said the demands indicated that Washington wanted to “destroy our major industries”, pointing specifically to Canada’s automotive, steel and aluminium sectors.
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