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Talks Collapse – Tariffs Begin Now – A Direct and Confrontational U.S-Canada Trade War is Now a Reality

August 22, 2026 | Sundance |

Moments ago, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney delivered the news via his X account. Discussions between the U.S and Canada have collapsed. All trade representatives are called back home. The 50% U.S. tariffs against Canada are now in effect. A trade war begins.

First, read the statement from Prime Minister Mark Carney, with the understanding that Carney is making the first statement because the news is exceptionally bad for Canada. Worse than bad.

When the 3-day tariff pause was announced, CTH said to be cautious. When USTR Jamieson Greer and Canadian negotiator Dominic LeBlanc said the terms were “basically agreed”, again CTH said be careful.

The reason for our notes of extreme caution is because the divide between the two economies and trade policy is just too big. There was no way for both sides to close the gap without major structural economic changes within Canada. The issues are not points of friction, they are just too big and embedded within the laws of Canada that would have to change.

Banking regulations would have to change. Intellectual property and media rules, regulations and laws would have to change. Industrial policy would have to change. The Canadian energy policy would have to change. The carbon trading scheme would have to change or be removed. All of this would fall upon Canada to carry out in order to position their economy in alignment with the USA. There’s literally no way for their government to accomplish this against the backdrop of their political ideology.

That was the structural argument and point made by former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. This is also why the USMCA as a trilateral trade agreement is impossible to maintain. The only trade agreement construct possible is two clearly separate bilateral free trade agreements, one with Mexico and one with Canada.

The 50% tariffs begin tonight.

A trade war is underway.

This is breaking news. More to come soon….

UPDATE: USTR Response

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2026/08/22/talks-collapse-tariffs-begin-now-a-direct-and-confrontational-u-s-canada-trade-war-is-now-a-reality/#more-286245

>>24962300

2/2

United States Trade Representative on X: "Tonight, Canada declined to finalize the trade deal under the terms agreed earlier this week. Despite the U.S. offer to Canada to receive the best treatment of any major exporter to our market, new demands and walk backs of other commitments by Canada have upended the careful"

United States Trade Representative

The White House

@USTradeRep

Tonight, Canada declined to finalize the trade deal under the terms agreed earlier this week.

Despite the U.S. offer to Canada to receive the best treatment of any major exporter to our market, new demands and walk backs of other commitments by Canada have upended the careful balance reached in the past days. In addition, Canada is continuing to maintain its prolonged retaliation against the United States, including, among other things, flat-out prohibitions on certain American goods and services.

For decades, Canada has enjoyed the most favorable access to the U.S. market of any country. And from the beginning of President Trump’s trade program, Canada has continued to enjoy the best treatment in the world, even after – like China – retaliating against the United States. This week, the United States agreed to provide even better treatment to Canada, offering significant tariff reductions on steel, aluminum, autos, and lumber.

The U.S. offer was also forward looking, and included a historic economic and national security partnership to cooperate on export controls, combat transshipment, enhance digital trade, and align certain external tariffs. The offer would have led to supply chain coordination on aerospace, complementary actions to address unfair trade practices, critical minerals cooperation, increased enforcement against imports produced with forced labor, and the announcement of formal U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) negotiations.

This is a missed opportunity for Canada to partner with the United States, which is the fastest growing economy in the G7.

12:11 AM · Aug 22, 2026

1.9M

Views

https://x.com/USTradeRep/status/2091015298929332326

>>24962310. Good morning

>>24962313

This is a very big deal. Sundance has been covering this for the last two years and more.

Carney acts like he’s in the cats seat.

I wonder how it affects the Five Eyes agreement?

>>24962313

“Tonight, Canada declined to finalize the trade deal under the terms agreed earlier this week.

Despite the U.S. offer to Canada to receive the best treatment of any major exporter to our market, new demands and walk backs of other commitments by Canada have upended the careful balance reached in the past days. In addition, Canada is continuing to maintain its prolonged retaliation against the United States, including, among other things, flat-out prohibitions on certain American goods and services.

For decades, Canada has enjoyed the most favorable access to the U.S. market of any country. And from the beginning of President Trump’s trade program, Canada has continued to enjoy the best treatment in the world, even after – like China – retaliating against the United States. This week, the United States agreed to provide even better treatment to Canada, offering significant tariff reductions on steel, aluminum, autos, and lumber.

The U.S. offer was also forward looking, and included a historic economic and national security partnership to cooperate on export controls, combat transshipment, enhance digital trade, and align certain external tariffs. The offer would have led to supply chain coordination on aerospace, complementary actions to address unfair trade practices, critical minerals cooperation, increased enforcement against imports produced with forced labor, and the announcement of formal U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) negotiations.

This is a missed opportunity for Canada to partner with the United States, which is the fastest growing economy in the G7.”

~ U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2026/08/22/talks-collapse-tariffs-begin-now-a-direct-and-confrontational-u-s-canada-trade-war-is-now-a-reality/#more-286245

CNN 8/22/2026

One killed, several injured in sword attack at Swedish school 1/2

Updated: 4:16 PM EDT, Fri August 21, 2026

Source: Reuters

An 18-year-old man armed with a sword attacked students at a Swedish high school on Friday, killing one person and injuring three, and police shot and detained him as media reported the attacker was a former student at the school.

The incident occurred on Friday afternoon at the Brinell high school in the central Swedish town of Fagersta, which has about 13,000 residents. The school had just reopened after summer recess, and for some students, it was their first day.

Police told a press conference that the suspect was an 18-year-old man whom they shot and took into custody on suspicion of murder.

Local police chief Tommy Alriksson said officers responded quickly to the school, which has 450 students ages 16 to 20.

“The first patrol entered and let us know that the perpetrator was subdued with gunfire,” he said.

Public broadcaster SVT, citing unnamed sources, reported the attacker, wearing a helmet and carrying a sword, was a former student at the school with a previous conviction for assault.

The local health authority said two victims were teenage boys who were severely injured. A third injured person was released from hospital.

‘First it was just a regular day’

“First it was just a regular day really. But then … I saw a guy all covered in blood, at least down his back anyway. Then I saw the police and they flooded in,” one Brinell student, Nellie, told Reuters alongside her mother Agnes Strandberg after a five-hour lockdown at the school.

Another student, Abdulrahem Salmo, said he had seen a victim with a bloody stab wound in the arm.

“Then people called the police and we just all ran from there because we were afraid,” he told SVT.

Several other schools and public buildings in Fagersta were also initially locked down.

Fagersta Mayor Asa-Marta Sjostrom said the small town was shaken.

“Our and the school’s main focus right now is to take care of our students and our employees,” she told reporters. “We are working together … to create safety and provide support to those who need it.”

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson cancelled a speech he was due to hold on Saturday, news agency TT reported.

“Our thoughts are with all those affected,” he wrote in a post on social media platform X.

Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf said in the statement released by the royal household that he received news of the attack “with dismay and sadness.”

Social Democrat leader Magdalena Andersson, whose center-left coalition leads opinion polls for next month’s parliamentary election, said: “All of Sweden stands together with Fagersta at this difficult time.”

https://lite.cnn.com/2026/08/21/europe/swedish-school-sword-attack-intl

>>24962588

2/2

Previous attacks

According to the Aftonbladet daily, police were investigating a TikTok account in connection with Friday’s violence that posted a picture of a sword 20 minutes before the attack.

Dagens Nyheter newspaper said the picture appeared to be taken in a restroom at the school based on details in the background.

Before the month-old account was taken down on Friday, it contained videos that referred to two episodes of mass violence in Sweden along with Norwegian far-right mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik.

Sweden’s worst mass shooting occurred in February 2025 at a school in the south-central city of Orebro, when a gunman killed 10 people before turning the weapon on himself.

In 2015, a masked swordsman killed a teaching assistant and two boys at a school in Trollhattan, western Sweden, before being shot dead by police, who later said the attack was racially motivated.

https://lite.cnn.com/2026/08/21/europe/swedish-school-sword-attack-intl

Missouri court allows new Trump-backed U.S. House districts to be used in November election 1/2

Politics Aug 20, 2026 11:20 AM EDT

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri judge has allowed new U.S. House districts backed by President Donald Trump to be used in the November elections, rejecting a bid to put the Republican-friendly districts to a statewide vote of the people.

The ruling Wednesday by Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green is a victory for Republicans seeking to hold onto their slim majority in the U.S. House. But the case is likely to end up in the state Supreme Court.

Missouri's new districts already were used in the August primaries. On that same day, Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins rejected a petition with thousands of signatures seeking to force a November referendum on the map. Hoskins asserted that Missouri's Constitution doesn't allow a referendum on congressional redistricting.

The judge agreed with Hoskins and other Republicans, who joined in defense of the new map.

"The Missouri Constitution does not supply any statement — let alone a clear one — reallocating authority over congressional redistricting away from the General Assembly to a referendum process," Green wrote in the ruling.

Opponents of the redistricting plan quickly announced an appeal.

"Everyone knows that Cole County is not the final decision here," said Richard von Glahn, executive director of People Not Politicians, who sued to try to place the new map on the ballot. "After months of delay, we are pleased to be moving forward to the Missouri Supreme Court to enforce our constitutional rights."

Missouri's redistricting targeted Democratic congressman

Missouri's current U.S. House delegation is made up of six Republicans and two Democrats who were elected from districts with boundaries drawn after the 2020 census.

But Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe called the Legislature into a special session on redistricting last year after Trump urged Republican-led states to redraw congressional boundaries to their advantage ahead of the midterms.

Missouri's revised map is designed to help Republicans defeat Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Kansas City. It reassigns portions of Kansas City to two neighboring districts represented by Republicans and stretches the remainder of Cleaver's 5th Congressional District far eastward into Republican-heavy rural areas. About 59% of its voters are new to the 5th District, according to an Associated Press estimate.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/missouri-court-allows-new-trump-backed-u-s-house-districts-to-be-used-in-november-election

>>24962627

2/2

State Sen. Rick Brattin won a Republican primary in the reshaped district in early August. Cleaver was unopposed for the Democratic nomination.

Republicans had argued that the new districts should be used in the November elections even if a voter referendum on the map was allowed to occur at the same time.

Lawsuit highlights dispute about referendum rights

The Missouri Constitution does not specifically say that a referendum can be used to decide congressional redistricting, nor does it forbid it, which is why the issue ended up in court.

Republican Attorney General Catherine Hanaway's office, which represented the secretary of state in court, argued that congressional redistricting is a legislative duty not subject to referendum without specific constitutional permission.

The attorney general and the Republican Party also argued it was too late to switch district boundaries before the November election. Changing districts after the primary would cause "widespread voter confusion" and an "erosion in confidence in the integrity of the state's elections," said John Gore, an attorney for national, congressional and state Republican committees.

The judge agreed, ruling that a district swap after the primary would violate federal law.

It's been more than 100 years since a Missouri redistricting plan faced a referendum. In 1922, voters rejected a new congressional map passed by the Republican-led Legislature. The legitimacy of that referendum petition was not challenged in court.

Redistricting battle spread to numerous states

Missouri's mid-decade redistricting effort has been among the most litigated nationally, triggering about a dozen lawsuits over the past year.

The Republican-led state was the second, after Texas, to respond to Trump's call to redraw congressional districts. Several other states followed. All told, Republicans hope to win as many as 16 additional seats from new House maps enacted in eight states: Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Florida, Tennessee, Louisiana and Alabama. Democrats, whose counterattack faced several setbacks, think they could win up to six additional seats from new districts in California and Utah.

It remains to be seen whether the redistricting works as intended for Republicans. The president's party historically has lost congressional seats in the midterms, and Trump's poor approval ratings could provide an extra hurdle for Republican candidates.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/missouri-court-allows-new-trump-backed-u-s-house-districts-to-be-used-in-november-election

Trump Suggests He Can Use the Military on Bond Markets: ‘If We Have To Use That, We Will’

David Gilmour

Aug 21st, 2026, 6:25 pm

President Donald Trump suggested Friday he could use the military to stage an “intervention” on bond markets in a confusing responseto a reporter asking about Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s efforts to bring down soaring yields.

The Treasury Department surprised Wall Street on Wednesday by announcingplans to “at least double” its purchases of long-term government bonds starting next month. The move initially sent long-dated Treasuries sharply higher, pushing 30-year borrowing costs down from the 19-year high reached just days earlier before yields climbed again.

Taking questions on the tarmac before boarding Air Force One on Friday afternoon, Trump was asked by a reporter whether he had directed Bessent to intervene and whether the move was his idea.

“No,” the president replied. “Not at all. No, he’s a very capable man. He wanted to do it. He’s very good at it. He is a good touch. Very good natural touch for the bonds and interest. And he did that? Yeah.”

The reporter followed up, noting that “yields have come back up since then.”

She then asked: “Have you talked to him about another type of intervention? Is that something he will be doing?

“We have many types of intervention. That’s one,” Trump said, adding: “The ultimate intervention is our military. And if we have to use that, we will.”

Bessent appeared on CNBC Thursday to tout the administration’s “big toolkit” for steadying the bond market but declined to inventory his other options. After Trump’s remarks, however, it remains unclear whether he and the president are even working from the same toolbox.

https://www.mediaite.com/media/tv/trump-suggests-he-can-use-the-military-on-bond-markets-if-we-have-to-use-that-we-will/