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Trump signs order renaming Lake Ontario Lake America
The Hindu··28 Aug
US President Donald Trump signed an executive order renaming Lake Ontario as 'Lake America', intensifying his trade war with Canada. The order applies to US federal usage and does not bind Canada. The move follows 50% US tariffs on $20 billion of Canadian goods and retaliatory tariffs from Ottawa. Canada's Mark Carney rejected the renaming, calling the lake's name permanent.
Prism
What It Means For You
- The tariff fight raises costs for buyers of Canadian steel, dairy and farm goods in the US, and of American goods sold in Canada.
- The renaming carries no legal weight outside the US, so international maps and Canadian usage remain Lake Ontario.
- Escalating US-Canada tension could affect prices and supply for goods moving across the shared border.
What's Happening
- Trump signed the order at the Resolute Desk with a sign reading 'Lake America' over a map of the Great Lakes behind him.
- He suggested he might extend the renaming push to the Atlantic or Pacific oceans next.
- The tariff dispute followed trade talks between the US and Canada that broke down over the weekend.
Naming Rights In A Trade War
- Lake Ontario's name comes from the Wendat word Ontari'io, meaning 'the lake is beautiful, the lake is big', and predates the US Declaration of Independence.
- Trump made a similar move last year, renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the 'Gulf of America'.
- Canada's prime minister and New York's Democratic governor both said they would keep using the name Lake Ontario.
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