Carney

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has reprimanded the United States for what he describes as a flippant approach to the ongoing trade dispute between the two countries.

On Tuesday, Carney hit back against a series of insults and disparaging remarks from US President Donald Trump and his officials, saying that talks can proceed once Washington takes a more serious approach to the issues at hand.

“When the Americans stop doing memes, stop throwing shade and stop trying to be tough, and start being serious about having those discussions, we can have those discussions,” Carney told reporters in Ottawa. “It’s not constructive, but that’s their democracy.”

The Liberal Party leader’s remarks come as tensions flare once again between the US and Canada, which have historically had tight relations.

But Trump’s second terms have caused those ties to fray. Since returning to office in 2025, Trump has imposed a series of tariffs on Canadian products, prompting retaliatory actions.

The latest round of tariffs came on August 22, when negotiations between the two countries fell through.

As a result, 50 percent tariffs were imposed on roughly $20bn worth of Canadian goods. Canada has pledged to respond with tariffs on US goods, worth roughly the same dollar amount, starting on September 8.

In the aftermath of the failed negotiations, Carney blamed the impasse on last-minute US demands.

He accused the Trump administration of seeking to limit Canada’s ability to cement trade deals with other countries and of requesting changes to laws protecting Canada’s French language and culture.

Carney also said Trump’s team attempted to push an asymmetrical deal that would damage Canada’s industries.

“Canada’s a sovereign state. We will strike free trade deals with the countries we wish to strike free trade deals with,” Carney told reporters on Tuesday. He added, “Of course, we’re not going to accept those terms.”

The trade war between the two countries has prompted a surge of nationalism in Canada.

A June poll from the research firm Abacus Data found that national pride surged 12 points in two years, reaching 77 percent this year.

Carney has faced pressure not to yield to US demands. In addition to imposing steep tariffs, the Trump administration has also pushed Canada to cede its sovereignty and become a “51st state” within the US.

Trump has also taken symbolic actions designed to assert US dominance over the two countries’ shared border region. On August 27, the US president signed an executive order directing federal entities to refer to Lake Ontario as “Lake America”.

“They are one of the worst countries in the world to deal with,” Trump said of Canada in a recent radio interview.

Other cabinet-level officials in the Trump administration have echoed Trump’s remarks disparaging Canada.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told the news outlet CNBC that Canada’s economy is ill-equipped to handle a trade war with the US, and he blamed Carney for escalating the situation.

“Well, I don’t think you can be in a tit-for-tat with someone who’s 13 times larger than you are,” Bessent said on Monday.

Of Carney, he added, “He came to power on an anti-American, anti-Trump agenda. He was 20 points behind in the polls. And then he started this. And it’s unfortunate that he’s not doing what’s best for the Canadian people.”

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, meanwhile, posted an image of two female Canadian cadets on social media, in an apparent effort to mock the country’s armed forces.

“This is real,” he wrote beneath the image of the two women, alongside an emoji of the Canadian flag.

Hegseth, a former TV host, has frequently castigated efforts to include women, LGBTQ people and racial minorities in the military as “woke” distractions from the US military’s core mission.

When reporters asked Carney to respond to such messages, he replied that such comments were “beneath” the officials’ office.

“Our plan has always been standing up for Canada, first and foremost, here at home,” Carney said.

TORONTO — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told the Trump administration Tuesday to “stop doing memes, stop throwing shade and stop trying to be tough,” as he pushed back against a fresh wave of attacks from Washington.

Carney said U.S.-Canada trade talks could resume if Washington became serious about negotiations, but he also accused the United States of pursuing terms that he said could leave Canadian industries “gradually wound down in Canada and wiped out.”

“When the Americans stop doing memes, stop throwing shade and stop trying to be tough, and start being serious about having those discussions, we can have those discussions,” Carney said. “It’s not constructive, but that’s their democracy.”

His comments came after a new barrage from Washington since trade talks collapsed Aug. 21, including Trump’s move to rename Lake Ontario “Lake America” and social media posts taunting Canada. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also said Canada could not go “tit for tat” with a U.S. economy 13 times larger, while U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth mocked female Canadian cadets online.

Hegseth on Monday posted an image from a cadet training center in British Columbia showing two young women in uniform, adding “this is real” alongside a Canadian flag. Carney called the post “beneath their office.”

The Pentagon stood by it Tuesday, with deputy press secretary Jacob Bliss saying, “The X post speaks for itself.”

Carney said the U.S. approach in the talks would have left Canadian industries effectively as subsidiaries of American companies or imposed terms under which they would be “gradually wound down in Canada and wiped out.”

“We’re not going to — of course, we’re not going to accept those terms,” Carney said.

Carney said Washington sought an “uncompetitive” deal for key industries, including autos, while pushing changes affecting French-language and cultural protections. He said any of those issues was enough to block an agreement.

Carney said Washington also sought limits on Canada’s future trade deals. “Canada is a sovereign state. We will strike free trade deals with the countries we wish to strike free trade deals,” he said.

Carney was also buoyed by Monday’s Liberal sweep of three special elections, including a decisive win in Chicoutimi-Le Fjord, Quebec, where the Conservatives fell to third place.

The victories brought the Liberals to 173 seats in the 343-seat House of Commons and reinforced Carney’s position as he confronts Trump over trade and Canadian sovereignty.

Nelson Wiseman, a professor emeritus of political science at the University of Toronto, said Trump’s annexation threats carry particular weight in Quebec. “Quebecers have the most to lose in an apocalyptic scenario where the U.S. absorbs Canada, and the status of the French language disappears,” he said.

U.S.-Canada trade talks collapsed after the two sides failed to reach a deal, and Trump imposed 50% tariffs on roughly $20 billion in Canadian goods. Canada responded with plans for tariffs on U.S. products.

Trump has repeatedly talked about making Canada the 51st state.

Gillies writes for the Associated Press.

TORONTO — Canada struck back at the United States on Tuesday with retaliatory tariffs on about $20 billion worth of American goods, including steel, dairy products, appliances and farm equipment, as the trade war between the once-friendly neighbors escalated sharply.

The tension threatened one of the world’s largest trading relationships. The new tariffs extended well beyond industrial goods, hitting everyday purchases such as seafood, cheese, clothing, cosmetics and toilet paper, with some facing duties as high as 50%.

“We did not choose this conflict, but when our economic integration is used as a weapon rather than the foundation for a win-win partnership, we need to stand up,” Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said in French, calling the situation “an unprecedented challenge imposed on Canada.”

Canada’s retaliation came after the Trump administration imposed 50% tariffs over the weekend on Canadian goods following the collapse of trade negotiations. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney accused Washington of trying to subordinate Canada and said U.S. demands during the failed talks showed that Americans wanted to “destroy our major industries.”

President Trump intensified the confrontation Monday, telling Canadian leaders to “fall in line” or face consequences “far WORSE” than existing tariffs and threatening new 50% tariffs on Canadian vehicles, auto parts and steel.

Trump added another provocation Tuesday, saying the United States was giving “serious consideration” to renaming Lake Ontario “Lake America” in a feud with Ontario Premier Doug Ford. Such a change would be reminiscent of the Republican president’s unilateral action last year by executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.

The tariffs will take effect Sept. 8 at rates of 15%, 25% and 50%, with Canada matching the corresponding U.S. tariff rate on more than 700 products such as pulp and paper and electronics. The tariffs on many American products would double from 25% to 50%, with the largest share of the new measures affecting steel and aluminum.

Canadian officials said the goal is not to raise revenue but to protect Canadian companies and reduce U.S. imports.

U.S. steel imports, for example, have already fallen 30% since Canada imposed a 25% tariff, and the new 50% rate is expected to cut them further, Canadian officials said.

Goods facing 50% tariffs include some steel and aluminum products, furniture and clothing. Appliances, dairy products including cheese, fish and seafood, and certain steel and aluminum derivatives will face 25% tariffs. Existing Canadian countertariffs on U.S. autos will remain in place.

Canada also announced a support package for workers and businesses affected by the dispute worth $7.5 billion in Canadian dollars ($5.4 billion in U.S. dollars).

Canadian officials acknowledged the counter tariffs will raise costs for some businesses and consumers but said they expect the overall economic effects to be moderate.

They said the government has provided more than $30 billion Canadian dollars (US$21.7 billion) in tariff-related support since the beginning of 2025 — far more than it has collected in retaliatory duties — as it tries to cushion the blow from the trade fight.

Canada and the United States have deeply integrated supply chains across autos, energy, agriculture and manufacturing, making a prolonged trade fight potentially costly for businesses and workers on both sides of the border.

Businesses and consumers are caught in the middle, facing uncertainty about how much prices may increase.

Michael Howard II, owner of a furniture business in Warren, Michigan, outside Detroit, said the tariffs will hamper the “ability for us to put food on the table for our family” and affect “the ability for us to give back to our community.”

Howard and his wife started their business a decade ago. They make and sell everything from dining room tables to bookcases.

“To say that we don’t need Canada is just disingenuous,” he said. “It’s dishonest. And it’s just absolutely not truthful. We need our neighbor, but also they need us.”

Carney said Monday that Canada may need to move away from matching U.S. tariffs dollar for dollar and instead use more targeted retaliation aimed at protecting Canadian workers and businesses.

“An attitude at the negotiation table that Canada is a subsidiary of the United States” is “not something we’re going to accept,” Carney said.

Carney was even more blunt in French.

“We learned during the negotiations that the Americans want to destroy our major industries, including autos, steel and aluminum,” Carney said. “That was one of the main reasons we said no. It was a bad deal.”

On Monday, Carney said U.S. negotiators had raised the discoverability of French-language content on streaming platforms, along with French-language labeling rules, as trade irritants. He rejected the idea that those protections were negotiable, saying in French: “For the Americans, questions about the French language, Quebec culture, francophone culture and Canadian culture are irritants. Here in Quebec, here in Canada, they are rights.”

In a social media post early Tuesday, Trump wrote: “I would never interfere with Canadians speaking French! In fact, I have never even thought of doing such a stupid thing. This lie was made up by a weak and ineffective Prime Minister in an attempt to gain political support, which he has totally lost, from the people of Quebec. I love French Canadians!”

Gillies writes for the Associated Press. AP writers Seung Min Kim in Washington and Mike Householder in Warren, Mich., contributed to this report.

Sir Kenny Dalglish and Karen Carney have been named the Professional Footballers’ Association’s Merit Award winners for 2026.

The award honours individuals who have made a lasting contribution to football.

The PFA Awards ceremony will be held in Manchester on Tuesday evening, where the men’s and women’s players’ player of the year winners will be announced.

Dalglish enjoyed a prolific career as both player and manager, becoming Scotland’s most-capped men’s international with 102 appearances and matching Denis Law’s national team record of 30 goals.

At club level, he began with a trophy-laden spell at Celtic before moving to Liverpool for a British record fee in 1977 and becoming an integral part of the club’s golden era.

Over the next 14 years, Dalglish won eight First Division titles and three European Cups across 515 appearances for Liverpool and was runner-up for the Ballon d’Or in 1983. Appointed player-manager in 1985, he guided the club to three league titles and two FA Cups – including the double in 1985-86 – before retiring from playing in 1990.

After resigning as Liverpool’s manager in February 1991, Dalglish led Blackburn to the Premier League title in 1995 and had stints with Celtic, Newcastle and Liverpool again, where he won the 2012 League Cup.

Off the field, Dalglish remains a significant figure in Merseyside. He led the club through the aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, earning praise for his support of the bereaved families, and has raised millions of pounds to support cancer care and treatment through the Marina Dalglish Appeal, set up in 2005 following his wife’s treatment for breast cancer.

Dalglish, 75, announced in June 2026 that he is undergoing treatment for cancer.

Former England attacking midfielder Carney was a member of the Arsenal side that completed a historic quadruple in 2006-07, winning the league, FA Cup, League Cup and Uefa Women’s Cup, the forerunner to the Women’s Champions League.

She spent two seasons with Chicago Red Stars before returning in 2011 to home club Birmingham City, where she had started her career. Carney scored an extra-time equaliser as Birmingham won the FA Cup the following season.

Moving to Chelsea in late 2015, Carney won the WSL and FA Cup double in 2017-18 and later served as club captain before ending her playing career in 2019.

On the international stage, Carney made her England debut as a 17-year-old in 2005. She went on to score 32 goals in 144 appearances for the Lionesses and helped England finish third at the 2015 Women’s World Cup.

That was one of eight major tournaments for Carney with England, while she also represented Great Britain at the 2012 Olympics.

Since retiring, Carney, 39, has built a career as a broadcaster and analyst and was appointed by the UK Government to chair an independent review, published in 2023, into the future of domestic women’s football.