CANADA PERSPECTIVE

Ottawa plays a delicate diplomatic score. The Globe and Mail publishes a precise analysis: the United States is proposing a new 10% tariff on Canada and other trading partners to rebuild the tariff wall struck down by the Supreme Court. But — crucial detail — the proposed tariff appears to maintain an exemption for Canadian products that comply with the continental trade agreement (USMCA/T-MEC). This carve-out significantly reduces the bite of the tariffs for Canadian exporters. The USTR nonetheless names Canada among six economies (with Ecuador, the EU, Indonesia, Mexico and Pakistan) that have 'failed to effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labour'. This category attracts a 10% tariff — lower than the 12.5% imposed on 54 other economies. For Ottawa, the verdict is ambiguous: Canada is on the diplomatic blacklist but can largely save itself through USMCA compliance. Global News documents engagement: 'U.S. House passes Iran war powers resolution in rebuke of Trump' — an alternative angle measuring intra-American fractures. The Financial Post publishes a Bloomberg analysis on Vietnam — 'Vietnam Posts Record Trade Deficit as US Renews Tariff Risks' — illustrating that Asian emerging markets are absorbing part of the shock. Ottawa simultaneously announces a one-year extension of support measures for the steel and aluminum sectors, a preventive signal against the tariff threat. The Canadian perspective thus combines commercial pragmatism (save yourself via USMCA) and discreet diplomacy (no public condemnation of Trump).