US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday (Aug 25) that he is considering changing the name of Lake Ontario to “Lake America” as the trade war between the United States and Canada intensifies.
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 United States and Canada are locked in a trade dispute, with Canada expected to announce retaliatory measures on Tuesday.
This was in response to the Trump administration enacting 50 per cent tariffs on US$20 billion of Canadian goods over the weekend after talks between the countries broke down.
“The United States is giving serious consideration to changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America in that we don’t expect to doing much business with Ontario any longer,” Trump said Tuesday on social media.
Ontario is Canada’s most populous province and is home to the country’s auto industry.
The rhetoric between the two countries is escalating, with Trump telling Canadian leaders Monday to “fall in line” or face consequences “far worse” than existing tariffs. Prime Minister Mark Carney has accused Washington of trying to subordinate Canada.
Trump also threatened new 50 per cent tariffs on Canadian vehicles, auto parts and steel, while Carney said US trade demands showed that Washington wanted to “destroy our major industries”, including autos, steel and aluminium.
AP
