WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he is considering changing the name of Lake Ontario to 鈥淟ake America鈥� as the between the United States and Canada intensifies.
Such a change would be reminiscent of the Republican president鈥檚 unilateral action last year by executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico to the .
The United States and Canada are locked in a trade dispute, with Canada expected to announce retaliatory measures Tuesday. That鈥檚 in response to the Trump administration on $20 billion of Canadian goods over the weekend after talks between the countries broke down.
鈥淭he United States is giving serious consideration to changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America in that we don鈥檛 expect to doing much business with Ontario any longer,鈥� Trump said Tuesday on social media.
Ontario is Canada鈥檚 most populous province and is home to the country鈥檚 auto industry.
The rhetoric between the two countries is escalating, with Trump telling Canadian leaders Monday to 鈥渇all in line鈥� or face consequences 鈥渇ar WORSE鈥� than existing tariffs. Prime Minister Mark Carney has of trying to subordinate Canada.
Trump also threatened on Canadian vehicles, auto parts and steel, while Carney said U.S. trade demands showed that Washington wanted to 鈥渄estroy our major industries,鈥� including , steel and aluminum.
Canada and the United States share one of the world鈥檚 largest trading relationships, with deeply integrated supply chains across , energy, agriculture and manufacturing, making a prolonged trade fight potentially costly for businesses and workers on both sides of the border.
Businesses and consumers are caught in the middle, facing uncertainty about how much prices may increase.
Michael Howard II, owner of a furniture business in Warren, Michigan, outside Detroit, said the tariffs will hamper the 鈥渁bility for us to put food on the table for our family, but also impacts the ability for us to give back to our community.鈥�
Howard and his wife started their business a decade ago. They make and sell everything from dining room tables to bookcases.
鈥淭o say that we don鈥檛 need Canada is just disingenuous,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 dishonest. And it鈥檚 just absolutely not truthful. We need our neighbor, but also they need us.鈥�
Finance Minister Fran莽ois-Philippe Champagne and three other Cabinet ministers are also expected Tuesday morning to share details of support for workers affected by tariffs. Carney said earlier Monday that Canada may need to move away from matching U.S. tariffs dollar for dollar and instead use more targeted retaliation aimed at protecting Canadian workers and businesses.
鈥淎n attitude at the negotiation table that Canada is a subsidiary of the United States鈥� is 鈥渘ot something we鈥檙e going to accept,鈥� Carney said.
Carney was even more blunt in French.
鈥淲e learned during the negotiations that the Americans want to destroy our major industries, including autos, steel and aluminum,鈥� Carney said. 鈥淭hat was one of the main reasons we said no. It was a bad deal.鈥�
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Rob Gillies reported from Ontario. Associated Press writers Seung Min Kim contributed from Washington and Mike Householder from Warren, Michigan
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