Political Press 🍁

Political news, analysis, and opinions for Canadians

Day: 19 August 2026

Allies forge alternate partnerships, realizing they can no longer depend on the U.S.

2026-08-19 /

The only remaining U.S. aircraft carrier patrolling the Pacific departed Asia through Singapore last week en route to the Middle East, marking the latest step in a steady drawdown of American military assets across the region, reports Michael Wilner for the LA Times.

The Trump administration’s snub of South Korea has America’s allies in Asia rethinking how much they can depend on the U.S. — and looking to each other to reduce their reliance on Washington, reports Phelim Kine at Politico.

Trump said this week he is cutting back joint military exercises with South Korea, and announced Wednesday that he will meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un later this year. That is pushing countries in Asia to accelerate their defence spending and forge alternate partnerships, according to Asian diplomats and others familiar with discussions among regional governments.

Americans think tariffs will tear Canada apart. The evidence proves them wrong

2026-08-19 /

“As long as the president retains sole discretionary authority to impose tariffs, the threat remains. Remember that Canada had an agreement, incorporated into the current USMCA and ratified by Congress, to restrain the use of Section 232 tariffs. The failure of that agreement is a precedent to guide all future dealings with the U.S., including those conducted after Mr. Trump leaves office.”

“The lesson for Canada now facing a U.S. armed with “divide and conquer tariffs” is that Canadian solidarity, while strong, is not something governments can simply assume; it must be built by informing Canadians of what is at stake,” write Carlo Dade and Sean Willett at the Globe and Mail.

“Canadians seem willing to accept that one province may sometimes have to give something up for another, but they want to know the bargain is reciprocal: who is carrying the cost, who benefits, and what comes back to the province making the concession. Without that clarity, what is meant to look like a national strategy can quickly feel like one province being asked to take one for the team. That’s a guaranteed winning proposition for a U.S. administration hostile to Canada.”

Prime Minister Carney tells the first ministers that Canada is looking for ‘greatest possible’ access to U.S. market.

2026-08-19 /

Prime Minister Carney briefed all 13 provincial and territorial premiers on the state of Canada-U.S. trade talks.

Some details are starting to spill out:

  • Prime Minister Mark Carney has asked the provinces to return American alcohol to store shelves, and to not specifically exclude the U.S. from their procurement policies, according to Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston.
  • A source with knowledge of the forthcoming agreement told the CBC that U.S. tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum are being lowered from 50% to 25%, and that Canadian officials are aiming to complete the deal by Friday.
  • Quebec Premier Christine FrĂ©chette told reporters “I don’t have sufficient information in order to decide if it’s a good agreement or not.”
  • Premiers were asked not to exclude U.S. from procurement policies

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Prime Minister Carney meets with First Ministers

2026-08-19 /

Today, Prime Minister Mark Carney met virtually with provincial and territorial premiers to discuss the ongoing trade negotiations with the United States, according to Prime Minister’s Office.

The Prime Minister underscored the importance of a strong Team Canada approach. He reiterated that the government’s goal is to secure the best deal for Canadians – one that provides the greatest possible U.S. market access for Canadian businesses.

Prime Minister Carney emphasized the importance of remaining focused on Canada’s central economic strategy: building our economic strength at home and diversifying our partners abroad.

Trump set to cut auto tariffs on imports from Canada to 15%

2026-08-19 /

The source said the proposed deal was expected to cut top-line tariff rates on Canadian-built cars and trucks to 15% from the existing 25%. ​Industry executives say that rate threatens to kill domestic auto manufacturing, reports David Shepardson and Promit Mukherjee at Reuters.

Two auto executives said Canada was pushing to reduce the tariff to 10%.

The 15% top-line autos tariff also would come before deductions for the value of U.S.-produced content, bringing the effective rate substantially lower, the source told Reuters. The proposed deal would also halve the top-line tariff rates ​on Canadian steel and aluminum to 25%, the source said.

Canada and US are finalizing a trade deal

2026-08-19 /

“We are now moving towards an agreement that reinforces that Canadian advantage, including by securing the best terms in each of Canada’s most important strategic sectors and providing greater certainty about our future trading relationship,” Prime Minister Mark Carney wrote on Wednesday.

Minister LeBlanc said that Canada’s dairy supply management programme – which sees production quotas, set pricing, and import quotas on dairy, eggs, and poultry – will remain “entirely intact”, reports Nadine Yousif at BBC News.

Polls suggest that a majority of Canadians would be unhappy if the Carney government made significant concessions to the US, with 56% surveyed by polling firm Leger saying they want Canada to take a hardline approach.

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Canada announces new aid to Lebanon, condemns Israel’s ‘unlawful invasion’

2026-08-19 /

Randeep Sarai, Canada’s secretary of state for international development, condemned what he called Israel’s “unlawful invasion” of Lebanon, saying Beirut should govern its own space and have sovereignty over its lands.

Sarai was visiting Lebanon to announce new humanitarian aid to the crisis-hit country, where the U.N. says some 360,000 people remain displaced due to Israel’s invasion.

“We have been working actively, I think, through diplomatic channels to do whatever possible to stop that and to allow Lebanese communities that are from those areas to be able to move back,” Sarai said in an interview with The Associated Press late Tuesday.

Parti Québécois will not hold a referendum as long as Trump remains in the White House

2026-08-19 /

In a news release, PQ party leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said he wants to avoid having the issue “hijacked by the ups and downs of American politics,” according to Hayley Carolan at CBC News.

“An issue as crucial as the political future of Quebec requires conditions that allow for an informed and calm debate,” the PQ leader said.

He said the next government will be faced with “more than enough challenges” without calling a referendum.

Elsewhere: CBC News, Le Monde

Video: Global News

US delays implementing 50% tariffs on goods imported from Canada for three days

2026-08-19 /

“Canada has temporarily dodged 50 per cent tariffs on roughly $28-billion worth of goods after U.S. President Donald Trump announced late Tuesday he would delay the levies for three days,” reports The Canadian Press.

“Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a statement after Trump’s post that “substantial progress” has been made and that more work remains.

“While we continue this work, Canada remains focused on building a stronger, more independent, and more competitive economy at home,” PM Carney said.

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Trump now claims the Strait of Hormuz is “new U.S. territory”

2026-08-19 /

Pressure is mounting on U.S. President Trump to reach a peace deal with Iran, as his war of choice on the country is contributing to his lowest approval rating since returning to office in 2025.

Amid those calls to end the war, Trump is again making more bold declarations about who will control the Strait of Hormuz.

Jackson Proskow from Global News reports on how Trump now claims the Strait of Hormuz is “new U.S. territory,” among other claims.

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