Small acts of defiance in Canada raise question of what country can do against Trump’s tariff trade war
In Miche cafe and bar in British Columbia’s capital, Victoria, owner Allan Sinclair is turning around specific alcohol bottles on the top shelf to hide the labels from public view.
He picks up a bottle of Jack Daniels.
“This is from Tennessee and they supported Trump so we can’t have that,” he says.
How Trump’s tariffs could cost UK consumers
Allan Sinclair, owner of Miche cafe and bar in British Columbia’s capital, Victoria
Bottles of American liquor were being turned around in the Canadian store
A bottle of Wayne Gretzky’s cream liquor is nearly finished.
“Once it’s gone, I’m going to get rid of it,” says Allan. “He’s shown he doesn’t respect our country anymore.”
Gretzky, once a Canadian ice hockey hero, has alienated many here with his steadfast support of the American president.
Allan also sells “Canadianos,” which he says, wryly, are stronger than Americanos.
They are quiet but considered acts of defiance in the face of a trade war started by the United States.
“It is a small protest in the form of a coffee,” he says. “What we can do is hope that they don’t follow up with all of this madness.”
Tuesday began with Donald Trump announcing a 50% tariff on aluminium and steel coming from Canada. Just hours later, that was revised back down to 25%.
There is a grinding, on-off, tit-for-tat nature to these economic punishments.
The British Columbia premier David Eby retaliated to the Trump tariffs by prohibiting the sale of American-manufactured alcohol in his province.
The Miche cafe and bar doesn’t sell Americanos
‘Buy Canadian Instead’
BC Liquor Store is just steps away from the premier’s office in Victoria.
On the shelves where Kentucky bourbon would usually be there are signs saying: “Buy Canadian Instead.”
Dozens of bottles of California and Oregon wine are wrapped tightly with cellophane.
But the threats from the Trump administration don’t end with tariffs.
The president has stated repeatedly that he’s keen to make Canada the 51st state. Even referring to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as “governor”.
British Columbia premier David Eby speaking to Sky News
Premier Eby tells Sky News: “These are deeply unnerving statements for the president to be making, especially in the context of clearly expansionist policies related to Greenland and the Panama Canal.
“What we get continually about the president is to take him seriously, but not literally.
“I would love to have that kind of luxury… the danger, I think, is not taking him literally and seriously.”
‘I’m trying to buy anything but American‘
On the ferry which connects Vancouver Island with the mainland, tariff fatigue is setting in.
Passenger Nancy, a government worker, says she thinks Donald Trump is intent on causing mayhem. “He’s a menace, he’s just creating chaos where it doesn’t need to be.”
Her colleague Laura says the silver lining is that the tariffs have galvanised Canadians together.
Laura, a government worker, says the tariffs have brought Canadians together
“People feel hurt and angry,” she says. “We are trying to buy more Canadian products and travel anywhere other than the United States. I had a trip booked to Las Vegas and we’ve cancelled that. When I go to the grocery store, I look for the Canadian maple leaf that a lot of grocery stores have put on the shelves. I’m trying to buy anything but American.”
Richard thinks Donald Trump’s end game is to weaken the Canadian economy.
“I think Trump had an agenda from the beginning, without a doubt. I think he wanted to cause a collapse of the Canadian economy so it would make it easier for him and his colleagues to buy up whatever they wanted, if not to make us a 51st state – it had nothing to do with Fentanyl, that was just a ruse.”
Trump’s ‘fiction’ Fentanyl claims
He’s referencing the Trump administration’s repeated claims that Fentanyl, a devastating opioid that has ravaged parts of both America and Canada, is flooding over the Canadian border into the US.
It’s the reason, they say, for starting this trade war.
One reason Mr Trump gave for initiating the trade war was the alleged flow of fentanyl over the border
Dr M-J Milloy, director of research at British Columbia Centre on Substance Use, says that this simply isn’t true.
“There is no one who knows anything about drug markets in North America who would agree with the statement that Canada is a substantial part of the problem in the United States. It is a fiction.”
Dr M-J Milloy, director of research at British Columbia Centre on Substance Use
“No question that Fentanyl has devastated the United States. Fentanyl is devastating Canada. And so I think in that way, it might be a potent way for Mr Trump to whip up enthusiasm and to justify this aggression,” he adds.
Whatever the reason – invented or otherwise – for this trade war, it’s making an enemy of this ally.
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Day 52: Tesla, tariffs and a step closer to truce
The question is, what power does Canada really have in the face of its much bigger, far wealthier neighbour?
One person has died in a bomb explosion near a reproductive health clinic in California, authorities have said.
The incident took place in Palm Springs, a city two hours east of Los Angeles, and is being investigated as a possible car explosion.
The city’s mayor Ron DeHarte said one person died in the blast, adding that the bomb was “either in or near” a vehicle. The deceased’s identity is not known, Palm Springs police said.
Dr Maher Abdallah, who runs the American Reproductive Centers clinic, told the Associated Press his facility was damaged but all staff were safe and accounted for.
The explosion damaged the office space where the practice conducts patient consultations, but the IVF lab and stored embryos were unharmed, he added.
“I really have no clue what happened,” he said. “Thank God today happened to be a day that we have no patients.”
Debris covers the ground after the explosion. Pic: ABC7 Los Angeles/AP
In a statement posted on Facebook the clinic said it was “heartbroken” to learn someone died in the explosion and added: “Our deepest condolences go out to the individuals and families affected.”
It continued: “Our mission has always been to help build families, and in times like these, we are reminded of just how fragile and precious life is.
“In the face of this tragedy, we remain committed to creating hope – because we believe that healing begins with community, compassion, and care.
The clinic will be fully operational on Monday, it added.
“This moment has shaken us – but it has not stopped us. We will continue to serve with strength, love, and the hope that brings new life into the world,” the statement concluded.
Pic: ABC7 Los Angeles/AP
The Palm Springs city government said in a post on Facebook that the explosion happened on North Indian Canyon Drive, near East Tachevah Drive, before 11am local time (6pm GMT).
A burned-out car can be seen in a parking lot behind the building in aerial footage.
The blast caved in the clinic’s roof and blew debris across four lanes of the road.
Another person said he was inside a cannabis dispensary nearby when he felt a massive explosion.
Nima Tabrizi said: “The building just shook, and we go outside and there’s massive cloud smoke.”
Investigators from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are travelling to the scene to help assess what happened.
California governor Gavin Newsom has been briefed on the explosion, his press office said.
A former FBI director has been interviewed by the US Secret Service over a social media post that Republicans say was a call for violence against President Donald Trump.
James Comey, who led the FBI from 2013 until he was fired in 2017 by Mr Trump during his first term in office, shared a photo of seashells appearing to form the numbers “86 47”.
James Comey later removed the Instagram post. File pic: AP
He captioned the Instagram post: “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.”
Some have interpreted the post as a threat, alleging that 86 47 means to violently remove Mr Trump from office, including by assassination.
Mr Comey later removed the post, saying he thought the numbers “were a political message” and that he was not aware that the numeric arrangement could be associated with violence.
“I didn’t realise some folks associate those numbers with violence. It never occurred to me, but I oppose violence of any kind, so I took the post down,” Mr Comey said.
Mr Trump rejected the former FBI director’s explanation, telling Fox News: “He knew exactly what that meant. A child knows what that meant… that meant assassination.”
Donald Trump Jr accused Mr Comey of “casually calling for my dad to be murdered”.
US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed in a post on X that Mr Comey had been interviewed as part of “an ongoing investigation” but gave no indication of whether he might face further action.
The Secret Service is part of the Department of Homeland Security.
White House deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich said Mr Comey had put out “what can clearly be interpreted as a hit on the sitting president of the United States”.
“This is deeply concerning to all of us and is being taken seriously,” Mr Budowich wrote on X.
Another White House official James Blair said the post was a “Clarion Call (…) to terrorists & hostile regimes to kill the President of the United States as he travels in the Middle East”.
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Mr Trump fired Mr Comey in May 2017 for botching an investigation into 2016 democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, the White House said at the time.
While Mr Comey was the director of the FBI, the agency opened an investigation into possible collusion between the Trump 2016 presidential campaign and Russia to help get Mr Trump elected.
The Trump administration is considering a TV show whereby immigrants compete for the prize of US citizenship, the Department for Homeland Security has confirmed.
It would see contestants compete in tasks across different states and include trivia and “civic” challenges, according to the producer who pitched the idea.
Participants could battle it out to build a rocket at NASA headquarters, Rob Worsoff suggested.
Confirming the administration was considering the idea, Department for Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said: “We need to revive patriotism and civic duty in this country, and we’re happy to review out-of-the-box pitches. This pitch has not received approval or rejection by staff.”
It comes amid hardline immigration measures implemented by President Donald Trump on his return to office in January.
Since being back in the White House he has ordered “mass deportations” and used the Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged gang members to countries in Central and South America.
Rob Worsoff in 2013. Pic: AP
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Mr Worsoff, who is a Canadian-American citizen, said his pitch was inspired by his own naturalisation process.
He cautioned that those who “lost” the gameshow would not be punished or deported but said the details of how it would work would be down to TV networks and federal officials.
The producer said the US was in need of “a national conversation about what it means to be American”.
He said the show, if accepted by a network, would “get to know” contestants and “their stories and their journeys”, while “celebrating them as humans”.
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Behind the scenes of Trump trip
Meanwhile, the Department for Homeland Security has asked for 20,000 National Guard troops from various states to assist with its efforts rounding up illegal immigrants.
Currently, the federal Enforcement and Removals Operations agency only has around 7,700 staff – but the boost would help fulfil Mr Trump’s inauguration promises.
The Trump administration has already recruited 10,000 troops under state and federal orders to bolster the US-Mexico border.
Some have now been given the power to detain migrants within a newly militarised strip of land just adjacent to it.
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