Trump weighs renaming Lake Ontario to 'Lake America' amid escalating Canada trade war
US President Donald Trump said he is considering renaming Lake Ontario to 'Lake America' as the trade dispute with Canada intensifies. Canada is set to announce retaliatory measures after Washington imposed 50% tariffs on $20 billion of Canadian goods over the weekend.
President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he is giving serious thought to renaming Lake Ontario as "Lake America," saying the US no longer expects to do much business with the Canadian province. It echoes his executive order last year renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
Ontario is Canada's most populous province and the base of its auto industry. The remark comes as tensions between the two countries sharply escalate. After talks collapsed over the weekend, the US imposed 50% tariffs on $20 billion (€17 billion) worth of Canadian goods, and Canada is expected to unveil retaliatory measures on Tuesday.
Rhetoric intensifies
On Monday, Trump told Canadian leaders to "fall in line" or face consequences "far worse" than current tariffs, and threatened new 50% duties on Canadian vehicles, auto parts and steel. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney accused Washington of trying to treat Canada as a subordinate, saying US trade demands showed a desire to "destroy" Canada's core industries — autos, steel and aluminium.
Businesses feel the strain
The US and Canada share one of the world's largest trading relationships, with deeply integrated supply chains spanning autos, energy, agriculture and manufacturing, meaning a prolonged dispute could prove costly on both sides of the border. Michael Howard II, who runs a furniture business near Detroit, Michigan, said the tariffs threaten his family's livelihood and his ability to support his community, insisting the two countries genuinely need each other.
Canada's Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne and other cabinet ministers are expected to detail support measures for workers hit by the tariffs. Carney said Canada may shift from matching US tariffs dollar-for-dollar toward more targeted retaliation aimed at protecting Canadian jobs and businesses, adding that treating Canada as a US subsidiary at the negotiating table is unacceptable.
