Protecting American supply chains.

Bedside Manner

August 24, 2026 · Ibid.

A cartoon exam room. Donald Trump, in a white clinic coat over his navy suit and long red tie, lowers a tongue depressor stickered '+50%' into the wide-open mouth of a seed-capped farmer on the table, saying 'Say fifty-first.' In the doorway Mark Carney waits, holding up his own tongue depressor with a maple-leaf tag reading 'SEPT 8'. Hockey sticks bristle from an umbrella stand in the foreground.

The United States imposed 50% tariffs on $20bn of Canadian goods on Saturday, covering items from hockey sticks to tongue depressors. Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada had been attacked and vowed matching "dollar for dollar" tariffs on steel, dairy, appliances and electronics from 8 September, while Trump posted that "Canada wants the benefits of being a State, without being one!!!" US trade representative Jamieson Greer said the goal was "protecting American workers and protecting American supply chains"; the Canadian Federation of Independent Business estimated 40% of small Canadian exporters are directly hit.