Important Takeaways:
- The leader of Canada’s most populous province has followed through on a pledge to hike electricity prices for Americans in response to President Trump’s tariffs as residents of US border states New York, Minnesota and Michigan can expect to pay more for power.
- The Canadian province of Ontario raised electricity export prices by 25% for the three American states on Monday — marking a direct response to the escalating trade dispute between the two countries.
- Ontario Premier Doug Ford ordered the Independent Electricity System Operator, which oversees the province’s electricity market, to implement a $7-per-megawatt-per-hour fee on all power exports to the three states, Bloomberg News reported.
- Despite the aggressive stance, the actual impact on US consumers may be minimal.
- Electricity prices on US spot markets, where power is bought and sold in real-time, fluctuate based on supply and demand.
- With multiple sources available, American buyers are not obligated to purchase from Ontario, meaning they may be able to source cheaper electricity from alternative suppliers.
- New York imported about 4.4% of its total electricity from Canada in 2023, according to Bloomberg calculations using data from the state’s grid operator.
- Minnesota and Michigan relied on Canadian imports even less, according to the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO), which manages the power grid across much of the Midwest.
- “In 2024, less than 1% of MISO’s total energy was supplied via Canadian imports and less than half of that came from Ontario”
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Important Takeaways:
- A politician vying to replace Justin Trudeau as Canada’s next leader has suggested forming a closer alliance with Britain and France as the NATO nations possess nuclear weapons, which could help safeguard the Canadians against potential threats posed by President Donald Trump.
- Chrystia Freeland, former deputy prime minister under Trudeau, warned that Trump poses a direct “threat” to Canada’s sovereignty by saying that the country could potentially become the 51st U.S. state.
- What Happens Next
- Canada is hoping that the head of state, Britain’s King Charles III, will condemn Trump’s statements on annexing the nation. Trudeau met with the king on Monday at the monarch’s royal residence Sandringham, Norfolk, east England.
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Important Takeaways:
- At exactly 12.01am ET this morning, the long-awaited 25% US tariffs on Canada and Mexico as well as an additional 10% levy on China went live. The 25% tariffs taking effect apply to all imports from Canada and Mexico, except for Canadian energy which will be tariffed at a 10% rate.
- The 25% EU tariffs, sectoral tariffs on copper, lumber etc., as well as the broader suite of reciprocal tariffs
- Swift retaliation followed from both Canada and China. Canada imposed 25% tariffs of its own on $155bn of US exports including orange juice and bourbon in two stages – immediate tariffs on $30bn of goods and the remaining $125bn in 21 days.
- China raised tariffs by 10% on soybeans, pork, beef, and fruits starting March 10th, and 15% tariffs on chicken, wheat, corn and cotton in line with yesterday’s press reports of agricultural goods being Chinese tariff targets.
- Additionally, China’s Customs suspended imports of US lumber effective immediately, and suspended soybean import qualification for three US companies
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Important Takeaways:
- In an interview on NBC News, Ford said he had never met a single American who supported the idea of tariffs, despite the fact that the majority of Americans voted for Donald Trump.
- Ford ranted:
- We are the largest purchaser of alcohol in the world. We buy over 3,600 products from 35 states. I talked to the Governor of Kentucky and Mitch McConnell. Don’t touch our bourbon. I’m going after absolutely everything.
- And I don’t want to. We keep the lights on for 1.5 million homes in manufacturing in New York, in Michigan, and in Minnesota.
- If he wants to destroy our economy and our families, I will shut down the electricity going down to the U.S. And I’m telling you, we will do it.
- Ford then went on to say that Americans, particularly those in red states, would feel immense pain as his retaliatory measures.
- He continued:
- This is the last thing we want to do. It’s one person that’s coming to attack us economically.
- Your closest friend, your treasured ally, that will stand shoulder to shoulder with you in every situation you’ve faced, and he’s attacking the person, his number one customer.
- There’s no country in the world that buys more products off the U.S. than we do.
- We’re the number one trading customer to 28 states, and a lot of them are red states. They’re going to feel the pain like they’ve never felt before.
- We’re going to feel the pain, but I’ll tell you, Canadians are resilient, we’re strong, we’re proud, and we’re going to fight back like they’ve never seen before.
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Important Takeaways:
- China is reacting angrily to President Trump’s pledge to impose an additional 10% tariff on its products, saying fentanyl is “the U.S.’s own problem.”
- Trump said the levy will take effect on Tuesday alongside a 25% tariff on products from Canada and Mexico. The Chinese tariff comes on top of a previously announced 10% tariff on products from the Asian superpower, ratcheting up tensions as the U.S. president says the trio of nations are letting deadly opioids pour into American communities.
- “China deplores and opposes this move, and will take what is necessary to firmly defend its legitimate interests,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said Friday. “The fentanyl issue is just an excuse the U.S. uses to impose tariffs on, pressure and blackmail China, and they punish us for helping them. This will not solve their concerns.”
- Chinese manufacturers make precursor chemicals for fentanyl that reach Mexico, where cartels finish the drug product and send it to U.S. communities. A tiny percentage is seized at the Canadian border but the White House stressed that domestic production is increasing in Canada and even small amounts can kill in large numbers.
- On Friday, Mr. Lin said China agreed to officially restrict fentanyl-related substances at Mr. Trump’s request in 2019. It also struck a deal with President Biden to crack down on the flow of precursor chemicals.
- “China has conducted counter narcotics cooperation with the U.S. side in a broad-based and in-depth way. The remarkable progress is there for all to see,” Mr. Lin said. “Pressuring, coercion and threat is not the right way to deal with China. Instead, mutual respect is the basic prerequisite.”
- Trump said there hasn’t been nearly enough progress and that families are being destroyed by tens of thousands of overdose deaths per year in the U.S.
- Countries like China and Mexico have suggested the U.S. is to blame for its crisis because too many people are addicted to drugs.
- “China is one of the world’s strictest countries on counter narcotics both in terms of policy and its implementation,” Mr. Lin said. “The fentanyl issue is the U.S.’s own problem.”
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Important Takeaways:
- Leaders in Europe and Canada have said they will not let Donald Trump’s plans to hit their steel and aluminum exports with tariffs go unchallenged.
- Trump said he was “simplifying” the rules and the measures would boost domestic production.
- “This is a big deal, the beginning of making America rich again,” Trump said, signing the proclamation, which said the measures would come into force on 12 March.
- “Our nation requires steel and aluminum to be made in America, not in foreign lands,” he added.
- The US is the world’s largest importer of steel, counting Canada, Brazil and Mexico as its top three suppliers.
- Canada alone accounted for more than 50% of aluminum imported into the US last year.
- The tariffs will raise the cost of bringing the metals into the US, sparking concern among businesses in the US that rely on the imports and many world leaders because it will make it more expensive for companies to sell their products in the world’s largest economy.
- Trump officials said the latest moves were aimed at stopping countries such as China and Russia from avoiding tariffs by routing low-cost products through other countries.
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Important Takeaways:
- First, President-elect Donald Trump tweaked Canada’s far-left Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about becoming governor of the 51st state of the United States of America. Then he said that the Panama Canal should once again come under American control. Make that the 52nd state. And now, are you ready for a 53rd state? Last month, Trump renewed a call he made during his first term: that the United States should buy Greenland from Denmark. Could the man possibly be serious?
- [Trump’s] question to Trudeau was pointed, and remains unanswered: “So your country can’t survive unless it’s ripping off the U.S. to the tune of $100 billion?”
- Trump explained that the Panama Canal “was given to Panama and to the people of Panama, but it has provisions, you gotta treat us fairly and they haven’t treated us fairly.”
- “If the principles, both moral and legal, of this magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to the United States of America in full, quickly, and without question.”
- Regarding Greenland, it’s once again the same story. Harvard International Review noted in an August 2024 article:
- “While Greenland remains closely linked to Scandinavia as an autonomous region of Denmark, global powers such as the United States, China, and Russia are racing to extend military and economic influence in the region as it becomes more habitable.”
- There’s the bottom line: if the United States doesn’t control the Panama Canal and Greenland, China or Russia likely will, and the consequences could be severe both for the American economy and for national security.
- Trump is playing the great power game at a time when the left wants nothing more than for America to stand down and let China be the world’s great power. It’s yet another reason why leftists hate him so passionately.
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Important Takeaways:
- United States and Canadian fighter jets intercepted four Russian and Chinese bombers that were flying in international airspace near Alaska on Wednesday, officials said.
- Wednesday’s joint Russian and Chinese flight was…notable for being the first intercept of Chinese military aircraft near Alaska
- The joint Russian and Chinese flight reflects the growing military ties between the two nations.
- NORAD stressed that the flight “is not seen as a threat” and that it will continue to monitor activity near North America “and meet presence with presence.”
- “We’re keeping a watchful eye on how they’re developing their capacity for operating in the region,” Iris Ferguson, deputy assistant Secretary of Defense for Arctic and Global Resilience, told reporters Monday.
- “As we say in the department, you know, they are our long-term pacing challenge. And I think that includes in the Arctic.”
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Important Takeaways:
- Major fault line off West Coast could trigger catastrophic 9-magnitude earthquake, study finds – and it’s due to blow
- An underwater fault line along the US West Coast could trigger a mega quake that would be more devastating than California’s ‘Big One,’ a new study suggests.
- Using underwater mapping techniques, scientists have mapped the Cascadia Subduction Zone – a 600-mile fault line extending from southern Canada to northern California – in never-before-seen detail.
- It has revealed that the fault splits into four segments instead of being one continuous strip like most fault lines. The discovery could prove more catastrophic because the tectonic plates can slide under each other, creating more pressure and more severe earthquakes.
- California’s San Andreas is poised for an up to 8.3-magnitude quake, for comparison.
- If an earthquake of over 9 magnitude struck the West Coast US it could generate tsunamis reaching 100 feet high or more, kill more than 10,000 people and cause over $80 billion in damages in just Oregon and Washington alone.
- Disaster emergency plans in Oregon and Washington warn that in the aftermath of a quake that big, they could face a wave of long-term deaths due to disease from exposure to dead bodies, animal carcasses, contaminated water and Hazmat spills from commercial, industrial and household sources.
- A similar fault zone off the coast of Japan erupted in 2011, creating a magnitude 9 quake that caused a devastating tsunami to strike the country, killing nearly 20,000 people.
- Now scientists are worried that a similar calamity could impact the US in the coming years, reporting that quakes caused by Cascadia occur roughly every 500 years, with the last one taking place in 1700.
- ‘The recurrent interval for this subduction zone for big events is on the order of 500 years,’ Wang said.
- ‘It’s hard to know exactly when it will happen, but certainly, if you compare this to other subduction zones, it is quite late.’
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Important Takeaways:
- Canada’s wildfire season re-erupts forcing thousands from homes, prompting air quality alerts
- An evacuation alert was issued for Fort McMurray in Alberta as crews responded to what they described as an “out-of-control wildfire” southwest of town that had burned more than 13,500 acres as of Sunday.
- The combination of warm temperatures and an ongoing drought have helped fuel several fires in western Canada, which has triggered thousands to leave their homes.
- One of the largest fires burning in the province of British Columbia is called the Parker Lake Wildfire. As of Sunday, the blaze had burned more than 6,100 acres, and firefighters said it was continuing to show extreme behavior due to dry brush and winds.
- Conditions in many parts of B.C., and especially in the Prince George Fire Centre (PGFC), are unseasonably dry and more typical of those observed in the late summer. As a result, fuels are more susceptible to ignition and wildfires can spread more quickly,” the British Columbia Wildfire Service said.
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