CANADA

What you need to know about Canada's wildfires and the impact on us

Adria Peters — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 19:00:00 GMT

The sky was hazy Monday, June 2, for much of the Midwest due to the Canadian wildfires. With the air quality being deemed unhealthy for everyone, specifically sensitive groups, many people have been spending as little time outside as possible.

According to Minnesota’s Pollution Control Agency, multiple rounds of smoke are expected to blow south. Canada’s wildfire season typically lasts from March until October.

With the fires escalating, two people were killed after a small Manitoban town becoming engulfed in flames, according to multiple news reports. These fires are serious, and people are urged to pay close attention to weather alerts and news.

According to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, about 1.7 million acres had burned across both Saskatchewan and Manitoba by Monday afternoon. Manitoba’s wildfires are out of control, and are largely burning on its northwest border with Saskatchewan. However, in Saskatchewan, the fires are mostly concentrated in the north.

“About 17,00 people were ordered to leave and more communities can expect the same in the coming days, said Wab Kinew, the premier of Manitoba,” according to The New York Times.

So, what exactly is causing these wildfires? Government data shows that 98 of 106 of Manitoba’s wildfires have been caused by people. Four were determined to have occurred naturally, likely as a result of lightning, and another four are still under investigation.

“In 2023, scientists at Canada’s natural resources department found that lightning sparked fires that burned 93% of the total wildfire area, and the remaining 7% of the area burned from human causes,” the Times reported.

Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, has ordered an emergency response group to address the wildfires. The Canadian government also promised to match donations to the Canadian Red Cross, lend military aid, and provide other assistance.

Canada’s worst wildfire season on record was 2023, killing eight firefighters. In just that year, 7,100 wildfires burned 37 million acres, which is an area larger than the size of England, according to the Canadian government. Scientists even called those wildfires the top carbon emitter of 2023.

These wildfires mean hazy skies, campfire smells, and poor air quality for the Midwestern parts of the United States. Sensitive groups such as pregnant people, newborns, elderly adults, and those with respiratory or heart problems should limit their time outdoors as much as possible. This means only going outdoors when absolutely necessary. Even if you are a healthy individual, you should still largely limit your time outdoors to avoid the smoke.

While it is difficult to predict when these fires will ease up, the National Weather Service and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency predict that the conditions will persist through at least June 2, and likely last longer.

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Unlocking Life Basics: What to know when crossing the Canadian border

Adria Peters — Mon, 05 May 2025 15:00:00 GMT

If you are planning a trip to Canada any time soon, there are certain things you should know about crossing the border. The official website of the Government of Canada provides a checklist of reminders for crossing the border.

It is always best to plan ahead. One thing you can do is check border wait times. You should also check the official CBSA Directory of Offices and Services for port of entry hours of operation. Weekend evenings and the Monday of a holiday weekend are when the border wait times are the longest, so this is something to keep in mind and to plan around. You should also consider crossing at the least busy port of entry in the area. If you are using a GPS system to guide you to a port of entry, consider checking different navigation options, such as fastest and/or shortest routes. This will make your travels easier and faster.

Canada’s official government website says, “When you arrive at a port of entry, follow the signs to the first checkpoint, also called “primary inspection.” A border services officer will check your identification and other travel documents and you will answer their questions truthfully.”

Make sure you have all of your travel documents handy. You will need proper identification for yourself and any children or minors with you. A passport is also recommended because it’s reliable and it’s the only universally-accepted travel and identification document intended for international travel. When traveling with children, you will need a signed consent letter to show the officers. This consent letter proves that a child has permission to travel into and outside of Canada from every parent or guardian who will not be with them on the trip.

If you are traveling with a pet, you will need to have their paperwork handy unless they are a service animal. Canada’s government website has more detailed information for crossing the border with your pet(s).

One thing you will need to be prepared to do is make a full and accurate declaration of your goods. This includes all purchases, food, plant and animal products, all money and currency over $10,000 (Canadian dollars), and any firearms or weapons. Visitors to Canada can bring certain goods into Canada for personal use as baggage. Personal baggage includes clothing, camping and sports equipment, cameras and personal computers, etc. You must also declare any gifts. If each gift is under $60 (Canadian dollars), you won't have to pay duties or taxes, however the gifts cannot be tobacco products, alcoholic beverages, or advertising matter. Do not wrap your gifts in case border services need to inspect the items. You should check the Automated Import Reference System (AIRS) before bringing any food, plant, and animal products into Canada. Always make sure your purchases or items coming into Canada are not on the list of restricted and prohibited goods.

You must declare all money or currency equal to or greater than $10,000 (Canadian dollars). While it’s not illegal to bring such amounts of money into Canada, you must declare it upon arrival and/or departure from Canada. Read more about this on their website.

It is also required that you declare all firearms or weapons you have with you. Failure to do this means border services officers may seize the weapons and even file criminal charges. Most weapons are prohibited from entering Canada. This even includes tasers, pepper spray, and certain knives. Check the CBSA website for detailed rules on importing firearms and other restricted and prohibited items.

If you are unsure of what to declare, ask a border services officer. They are there to help.

If you have any questions regarding crossing the border into Canada, contact border information services.

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286th overall: Max Hildebrand goes from unknown to Prince Albert's star and BSU's coveted goalie prospect

Nathan Reiter / Prince Albert Daily Herald — Mon, 28 Apr 2025 23:50:20 GMT

Editor’s note: This is a piece that was published in the Prince Albert Daily Herald by sports reporter Nathan Reiter. Reiter covered Max Hildebrand’s career for the Prince Albert Raiders in the Western Hockey League. Hildebrand is committed to play Division I hockey at Bemidji State in the fall of 2025.

It’s safe to say that Max Hildebrand exceeded all expectations in a Prince Albert uniform.

Hildebrand was the second-to-last player selected in the 2019 WHL Prospects Draft when Prince Albert took the netminder with the 286th overall selection in the 13th round. The Raiders have not selected a player in the 13th round in the last five drafts from 2020-2024.

Everything throughout Hildebrand’s WHL career was earned, never given. After spending the 2020-21 COVID-19 bubble season as the third-string goalie for the Raiders, Hildebrand didn’t make the team out of training camp in the 2021-22 campaign.

After spending some time with the Flin Flon Bombers in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL), Hildebrand would appear in five games towards the end of the season.

It took until Hildebrand’s 19-year-old season for him to become the bona fide number one goalie in Hockeytown North, posting a 25-20-2-2 record, a 2.88 goals-against average, a .907 save percentage and two shutouts.

Hildebrand says he wanted the starting position and worked hard to be able to earn it.

“It's just one day at a time, and competing for that job I wanted,” he said. “Just having fun while doing it. It's the biggest thing, and coming to the rink with these guys and the teammates I've had in the past, they made it so easy for me. The coaching staff, I just can't thank them all (enough) for the opportunity. It’s been a blast.

“I just can't say enough about the people here in this organization, the teammates I’ve had the privilege to play with and just be with throughout it all. It's been the time of my life, for sure. Something I’ll never forget, just (with) the growth I had here.”

It wasn’t the most picture-perfect start to the 2024-25 campaign for Hildebrand and the Raiders. After losing 10-1 to the Vancouver Giants on Oct. 19, Prince Albert sat towards the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings with a 2-7-2-0 record.

The Raiders would rally to a 39-23-5-1 record to finish on top of the WHL’s East Division, finishing just one point clear of the Brandon Wheat Kings and two ahead of the Saskatoon Blades.

Hildebrand noted that Prince Albert was able to gel as a team as the season went along.

“We sat on a bus 20 hours home from Vancouver with no windshield wipers,” he said. “We were close to last in the league, and we just weren’t sure what was going to happen. All we knew is we had a game the next weekend and we wanted to win. We just kept grinding away.

“It just shows what kind of character we had in this room all year. Guys came together, we had a lot of new guys to start the year. We knew it wasn’t going to be pretty at all times, just with all the new characters and stuf,f but we got the job done. We learned so many lessons throughout the year that paid dividends in the playoffs in that first series.”

Hildebrand was a major reason for the Raiders’ turnaround, appearing in a league-leading 55 games, posting a 33-16-5-0 record, a 2.87 goals-against average, a .918 save percentage and three shutouts.

At season’s end, Hildebrand earned nominations for several league awards, including the Del Wilson Memorial Trophy – awarded to the WHL’s top goaltender – the Doug Wickenheiser Memorial Trophy for Humanitarian of the Year and the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy for WHL Player of the Year. Hildebrand was the only netminder nominated for WHL Player of the Year.

Because of his strong play and work in the community, Hildebrand quickly established himself as a fan favorite in Prince Albert.

In his 19-year-old season, the Raiders debuted a one-night per season rebrand, being known as the Lake Country Cobra Chickens. In the first game as the Cobra Chickens, Hildebrand helped Prince Albert down rival Saskatoon in a shootout, with Hildebrand performing a wing flap celebration.

That celebration inspired the creation of a Hildebrand bobblehead for the second year of the one-night rebrand in his 20-year-old season. Hildebrand delivered with a shutout in a 5-0 win over the Regina Pats.

While he enjoys the memories of the Cobra Chicken games, the final stretch of the regular season and playoff run stick out the most in terms of memories from Prince Albert.

“When you come here to training camp and you're a young guy, I came here right after they won and just watched the videos of when (Dante) Hannoun scored that OT winner,” Hildebrand said. “Obviously, I didn't do anything like that, but the Cobra Chicken thing was cool.

“My two favorites that have stood out to me here are probably when we beat Saskatoon for the division, Drago (Lukas Dragicevic) scored late. I've never heard this building that loud in person. That Game 7 win against Edmonton after being down and out three games to one, just being able to flip that net over just one more time and having the Hauser horn go off, it’s something I’ll never forget.”

Growing up, Hildebrand could often be mistaken for his dad’s shadow. His father, Steve, is the associate general manager of the Saskatoon Blades and has been involved with the team in various roles for more than two decades.

Hildebrand would often tag along with his dad and would hang around the rink and the Saskatoon dressing room when he was growing up.

“Everything I ever learned before getting here about junior hockey off the ice, it all came from him,” Hildebrand said. “Just being around the dressing room, I just can't thank him enough for all the support and always being there for me and letting me roam around the room when I was a kid, and it probably wasn't too fun for him all the time.”

Throughout the season, Steve was a common sight at the Art Hauser Centre, watching his son play while wearing a dark jacket with a dark Saskatoon Blades logo on it. Hildebrand says his dad did make one exception to his usual wardrobe choice.

“At the end of the day, he was wearing a Raiders jersey for Game 7 in the Art Hauser (against Edmonton),” Hildebrand said. “I never thought I'd see that, but it was fun to see, (and the) boys loved it.”

Hildebrand is committed to play for the Bemidji State Beavers next season. Bemidji State is an NCAA Division I school located in Bemidji, Minnesota. The Beavers compete in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA).

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Ontario threat would have little effect on Minnesota Power

Jimmy Lovrien — Fri, 07 Mar 2025 15:21:59 GMT

DULUTH — Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s threat to cut off electricity exports to three U.S. states, including Minnesota, in response to the Trump administration’s sweeping tariffs on imports from Canada would likely have negligible effects on Minnesota Power customers and the region’s power grid.

While Minnesota is linked to Ontario’s grid by a transmission line over the Rainy River, Duluth-based Minnesota Power bought just under $310,000 of electricity from Ontario’s system in 2024, according to public filings. It did not buy electricity from Ontario in eight months of the year.

By comparison, the company spent $108 million on electricity from Manitoba, Ontario’s provincial neighbor.

“Minnesota Power has an electric grid connection with Ontario, and on occasion we do utilize electricity from their system,” said Minnesota Power spokesperson Amy Rutledge. “However, it is not on a daily basis like our contracted electricity from Manitoba Hydro.”

Electricity imported from Manitoba Hydro, which accounts for 11% of Minnesota Power’s energy, would presumably be subject to the Trump administration’s 10% tariffs on Canadian electricity imports.

The 10% tariffs on energy imports from Canada and 25% tariffs on all other products from Canada supposedly took effect Tuesday but were partially delayed by another month on Thursday.

Companies importing goods from abroad pay tariffs to the government that enacts the tariff, and economists agree that those costs are generally passed on to consumers, causing prices to increase.

But exactly how these tariffs will affect electricity imports and prices in the region is unclear.

Grid operators and utilities remain unsure of when the tariffs will take effect, and if electricity will even be subjected to tariffs.

Brandon Morris, a spokesperson for the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, the grid operator in the central U.S., said there was uncertainty about whether import tariffs would even apply to electricity from Canada or if the tariff threat would be resolved.

“MISO has received no confirmation from federal agencies regarding the duties’ applicability to electricity or who will be responsible for paying or collecting them,” Morris said Wednesday.

Minnesota Power echoed the uncertainty.

“While it is unclear at this time whether electricity will be subject to tariffs imposed by the United States or Canada, we are watching the situation closely to determine any potential impacts to our customers,” Rutledge said, adding that the company has other domestic power sources it can lean on.

Ford’s threat to cut Ontario’s power to the U.S. would also have little effect on the regional grid.

MISO, which oversees the grid stretching from the Midwest down to Louisiana and parts of Texas, receives less than 1% of its electricity from Canadian imports and less than half of that came from Ontario, Morris said.

“For context, that amount is equivalent to approximately one power plant,” he said. “MISO manages the loss of power plants like this every day to ensure reliability across our footprint.”

The Winnipeg Free Press reported Thursday that Manitoba’s financial minister instructed the Manitoba Hydro board to seek Cabinet approval before extending existing or entering into new power purchasing agreements with U.S. companies.

Minnesota Power is nearly five years into a 15-year power purchase agreement with Manitoba Hydro, bringing 250 megawatts of hydropower from northern Manitoba to Minnesota Power customers.

Minnesota Power built a 224-mile, 500-kilovolt transmission line from a substation east of Grand Rapids to the international border in Roseau County to carry the hydropower. The Duluth-based utility can also send power northward when wind production is high.

Energizing the line in 2020 was key in helping the company jump from 30% renewable energy to 50% renewable energy.

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Dokken: Remembering my friend Jim Stinson and a life well-lived – on the water and beyond

Brad Dokken — Fri, 07 Mar 2025 13:00:00 GMT

WINNIPEG – We said goodbye to a good friend and a good man last Saturday afternoon in a small, crowded hospital room at the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg.

I like to think he heard us, even though he’d slipped into unconsciousness several hours earlier.

Less than 12 hours later, he was gone, leaving only the memories of so many wonderful days on the water, on the ice and at the home near Lockport, Manitoba, that he and his wife opened up to us so many times over the past 20-plus years.

Jim Stinson was 76 years old.

Pure, marvelous coincidence brought me into Jim’s boat that morning in June 2003. Three of us had made the trip from Grand Forks after being invited to participate in an event called the Fish Winnipeg Media Corporate Challenge, a fundraiser for youth fishing programs.

As part of the event, volunteer guides hosted corporate donors for an afternoon of fishing on the Red River. In the morning, though, media types spent a few hours on the water with the guides. Besides competing in a low-stakes fishing derby and a chance for bragging rights, participating media shared their stories about the Red River and the jewel we share on both sides of the border.

I didn’t know at the time what a fortuitous turn of events that morning on the water would turn out to be.

The guide who was supposed to host us that morning at The Forks – as the area at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers is called – didn’t show up on time, nor did the media who were supposed to fish with Stinson.

So, the Fish Winnipeg organizers paired us, instead, with Jim, a retired Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer who was patiently waiting in his boat at the dock.

I can picture it in my mind like it was yesterday.

We ended up winning the media derby that morning, and over the years, Jim and his wife, Dar, became close friends. Jim’s name has appeared dozens of times in stories I’ve written since that morning in 2003.

All of those times were associated with fun and adventure, and a long list of stories and columns that included numerous catfishing excursions on the Red River at Lockport, ice fishing on the Red River and Lake Winnipeg, fall days spent fishing “greenback” walleyes on the Red River, trips to Reed Lake and Clearwater Lake in northern Manitoba and, during the past two summers, June trips to Lake of the Prairies in far western Manitoba.

It’s amazing how people come into your life sometimes.

Three years ago this month, Jim was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer, setting the stage for an intensive treatment regimen that included chemotherapy, a stem cell transplant and weeks of hospitalization, not only from the cancer, but the inevitable side effects from the treatment.

Jim was fiercely stubborn – as anyone who knows him will readily attest – and he didn’t let the diagnosis dampen his enthusiasm or passion for life, whether it was fishing, big game hunting or spending time with the friends he and his wife loved to host at their home in the woods near Lockport.

He treasured every day.

Last July, Jim and Dar hosted a fish fry for more than 100 friends, buying some 60 pounds of Lake Winnipeg walleye from a commercial fisherman. Some friends and I from “down south” made the trip and helped with the heavy lifting required to host such an event.

It was an absolutely perfect day.

In late January, Jim was ice fishing with a friend on Lake Winnipeg when he got a call from his oncologist asking that he come in for an in-person visit to go over the results from a blood test he’d taken the previous week.

As expected, the results weren’t favorable, but there was hope in the form of a new drug the medical team wanted to try.

“I am trying to think POSITIVE things as being negative only draws you down,” Jim told me in a Feb. 10 message just a couple of days before his hospital treatment regimen was about to begin.

As late as Feb. 20, he was talking about getting “kicked out” of the hospital; there were fish to catch, after all.

That was Jim.

Then came bad news a day later: The meds weren’t working, and the cancer was more aggressive. Two friends and I decided we needed to make the trip from Grand Forks to see him in the hospital.

“Jim prefers to talk fishing more than medicine,” Dar told me in a message.

That makes two of us.

Unfortunately, after a fairly good day last Friday, Jim took a turn for the worse sometime during the evening or overnight hours.

He lost consciousness before we got there last Saturday and left us in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Sometime this spring, family and friends – by the dozens, I’m sure – will gather to celebrate the life of a wonderful guy.

There were times when the fish didn’t cooperate or things didn’t exactly go as planned, but I cherish every day I was fortunate enough to have with my good friend, Jim Stinson. And I can safely say the rest of my friends who got to know him feel the same way.

This is a tough one.

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Trump delays Mexican and Canadian tariffs for all USMCA-compliant goods

Katharine Jackson / Reuters — Thu, 06 Mar 2025 20:19:52 GMT

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump suspended 25% tariffs on Thursday that he imposed this week on most goods from Canada and Mexico, the latest twist in a fluctuating trade policy that has whipsawed financial markets and fanned worries over inflation and a growth slowdown.

The exemptions, covering the two largest U.S. trading partners, expire on April 2, when Trump has proposed imposing a global regime of reciprocal tariffs on all U.S. trading partners.

Trump had imposed a 25% levy on imports from both countries on Tuesday and had mentioned an exemption only for Mexico earlier on Thursday, but the amendment he signed Thursday afternoon covered Canada as well. The three countries are partners in a North American trade pact.

In response, Canada will delay a planned second wave of retaliatory tariffs on $125 billion of U.S. products until April 2, Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc said in a post on X.

For Canada, the amended White House order also excludes duties on potash, a critical fertilizer for U.S. farmers, but does not fully cover energy products, on which Trump has imposed a separate 10% levy. A White House official said that is because not all energy products imported from Canada are covered under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade that Trump negotiated in his first term as president.

Trump imposed the tariffs after declaring a national emergency on Jan. 20, his first day in office, due to deaths from fentanyl overdoses, asserting that the deadly opioid and its precursor chemicals make their way from China to the U.S. via Canada and Mexico. Trump has also imposed tariffs of 20% on all imports from China as a result.

Trump first announced the levies at the beginning of February, but he delayed them for Canada and Mexico until Tuesday. Earlier this week, he declined to delay them again and doubled a 10% levy that had been in force since Feb. 4 on Chinese imports.

"On April 2, we're going to move with the reciprocal tariffs, and hopefully Mexico and Canada will have done a good enough job on fentanyl that this part of the conversation will be off the table, and we'll move just to the reciprocal tariff conversation," Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CNBC. "But if they haven't, this will stay on."

Trump also said that 25% tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum would go into effect as scheduled on March 12. Canada and Mexico are both top exporters of metals to U.S. markets, with Canada, in particular, accounting for most aluminum imports.

On Wednesday, Trump exempted automotive goods from the 25% tariffs he imposed on imports from Canada and Mexico as of Tuesday, levies that economists saw as threatening to stoke inflation and stall growth across all three economies.

Trump issued those exemptions after meeting with executives from the top U.S. automakers — Ford, General Motors and Stellantis.

NO BUY-IN FROM MARKETS

U.S. stock markets resumed their recent sell-off on Thursday, with investors citing the rapid-fire, back-and-forth developments on tariffs as a concern due to the uncertainty they are fanning. Economists have warned that the levies may rekindle inflation that has already proven difficult to bring fully to heel and slow demand and growth in its wake.

The S&P 500 closed down 1.8% and is now down nearly 7% since mid-February.

"A continuation of this on-again, off-again with tariffs, particularly with Mexico and Canada," is what is creating uncertainty in markets, said Bill Sterling, global strategist at GW&K Investment Management in Boston.

"The rational economic response to business leaders when there's such a high degree of uncertainty is to sit on their hands and just defer making decisions," Sterling said. "How can you make decisions about where you locate an auto plant between the U.S. and Canada right now?"

Lutnick said that the White House is not looking to market reaction for guidance.

"The fact that the stock market goes up or down a half percent on any given day is not the driving force of our outcomes," Lutnick said. "Our outcomes are driven by we want factory production in America."

Earlier Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who is stepping down as Canada's leader on Sunday, said he does not expect the trade war that Trump has kicked off to abate any time soon.

"I can confirm that we will continue to be in a trade war that was launched by the United States for the foreseeable future," he told reporters in Ottawa.

There was no immediate response from Mexican officials, though earlier Thursday President Claudia Sheinbaum held a call with Trump during which he had agreed to a delay.

"We had an excellent and respectful call in which we agreed that our work and collaboration have yielded unprecedented results, within the framework of respect for our sovereignties," Sheinbaum said in a post on X.

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Trump says Canada, Mexico tariffs to take effect on Tuesday

David Lawder, Andrea Shalal and Steve Holland / Reuters — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 21:21:14 GMT

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that there was no chance for Mexico or Canada to prevent 25% tariffs from taking effect on Tuesday, sending financial markets reeling on the prospect of new economic barriers in North America.

"They're going to have to have a tariff. So what they have to do is build their car plants, frankly, and other things in the United States, in which case they have no tariffs," Trump said at the White House. He said there was "no room left" for a deal that would avert the tariffs by curbing fentanyl flows into the United States.

U.S. stock indexes extended their losses after Trump's comments. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.58% for the day, the S&P 500 was down 1.78% and the Nasdaq Composite was down 2.47%.

Trump also said reciprocal tariffs would take effect on April 2 on countries that impose duties on U.S. products.

CEOs and economists say the action, covering more than $900 billion worth of annual U.S. imports from its southern and northern neighbors would deal a serious setback to the highly integrated North American economy.

The tariffs are scheduled to take effect at 12:01 a.m. CST on Tuesday. At that point Canada and Mexico would face tariffs of 25%, with 10% for Canadian energy. Mexican officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly told reporters that Ottawa would be ready to respond. "There's a level of unpredictability and chaos that comes out of the Oval Office, and we will be dealing with it," she said.

Speaking on CNN, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said both countries had made progress on border security but needed to do more to curb fentanyl flows into the U.S. to reduce deaths from the opioid drug.

Trump is also expected on Tuesday to raise fentanyl-related tariffs on Chinese imports to 20% from 10% currently, unless Beijing ends fentanyl trafficking into the U.S. Lutnick did not mention any potential changes to these duties, which would affect about $439 billion worth of annual imports.

Mexico's response plans

Mexico, after avoiding the first round of Trump's tariffs by striking a last-minute deal to send thousands of troops to its northern border, has stepped up anti-drug efforts and hinted at new measures on imported Chinese goods.

President Claudia Sheinbaum, in a press conference on Monday before Trump made his remarks, said her government was calm as it awaited Trump's decision, but that Mexico but will respond if tariffs are imposed.

"We have a plan B, C, D," Sheinbaum said, without giving any details. She added that coordination with the U.S. on trade and fentanyl trafficking has been "very good."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 72,776 people died from synthetic opioids in 2023 in the U.S., chiefly from fentanyl.

Trump 'unwavering'

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro told CNBC on Monday that any negative impact on the U.S. from any tariffs would be "second-order small, so I don't see the president wavering on any of this, because he knows in order to get to a world in which America is strong and prosperous, with real wages going up and (more) factory jobs. This is the path that he's chosen."

Trump on Saturday added another trade action to a cascade of tariff announcements over the past month, opening a national security investigation into imports of lumber and wood products that could result in steep tariffs. Canada, already facing 14.5% U.S. tariffs on softwood lumber, would be hit particularly hard.

During the prior week, Trump ordered the revival of a tariff probe on countries that levy digital services taxes, proposed fees of up to $1.5 million every time a Chinese-built ship enters a U.S. port and launched a new tariff investigation into copper imports.

These come in addition to his plans to determine higher U.S. "reciprocal tariffs" to match the tariff rates of other countries and offset their other trade barriers.

Package orders

The White House late on Sunday issued technical orders from Trump related to tariffs on Mexico and Canada, declaring that low-value packages from the two countries cannot enter the U.S. duty-free under the "de minimis" exemption for shipments under $800.

The ban will take effect once the Commerce Department determines that adequate screening measures take place, the order said.

Trump on Feb. 4 suspended the de minimis exclusion for low-value Chinese packages, but the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency had to pause the suspension because packages were piling up at U.S. airports without a way to screen them.

Fentanyl traffickers have exploited the de minimis package exemption to ship fentanyl and its precursor chemicals into the U.S., and officials say the packages often enter unscreened.

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Delta plane from MSP flips upside down on landing at Toronto airport, injuring 18

Allison Lampert and Ryan Patrick Jones / Reuters — Mon, 17 Feb 2025 20:52:12 GMT

TORONTO — A Delta Air Lines regional jet flipped upside down upon landing at Toronto Pearson Airport on Monday amid windy weather following a snowstorm, injuring 18 of the 80 people on board, officials said.

Three people on the flight that originated at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport suffered critical injuries, among them a child, authorities added.

Delta said a CRJ900 aircraft operated by its Endeavor Air subsidiary was involved in a single-aircraft accident with 76 passengers and four crew aboard. The CRJ900, made by Canada's Bombardier, can seat up to 90 people.

Canadian authorities said they would investigate the cause of the crash, which was not yet known.

"The aircraft is upside down and burning," an emergency worker told the air traffic control tower after a controller noted that some passengers were walking near the crashed plane, according to a recording of the incident posted on liveatc.net.

One social media user posted video of the aftermath, showing a fire engine spraying water on the plane that was lying belly-up on the snow-covered tarmac.

https://x.com/MeidasTouch/status/1891581551000908113?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

"We're in Toronto. We just landed. Our plane crashed. It's upside down. The fire department on site. Upside down. Everybody, most people appear to be OK. We're all getting off. Some smoke going on," Facebook user John Nelson narrated in the video.

Pearson Airport said earlier Monday it was dealing with high winds and frigid temperatures as airlines attempted to catch up with missed flights after a weekend snowstorm dumped more than 8.6 inches of snow at the airport.

Of those injured, two were airlifted to trauma centers, and a child was transported to a children's hospital, said Supervisor Lawrence Saindon of Peel Regional Paramedic Services.

All 18 of the people injured were passengers and were taken to area hospitals, Delta said in a statement.

The Toronto airport was shut down for more than two hours before departures and arrivals resumed. This led to ground delays and diversions to other airports including Montreal-Trudeau International Airport, which said it was preparing to receive several diverted flights that might cause further delays.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) said it was deploying a team of investigators, and the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said a team of investigators would assist Canada's TSB.

Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries 7011.T, which closed a deal to buy the CRJ aircraft program from Bombardier in 2020, said it was aware of the incident and would fully cooperate with the investigation.

The crash in Canada followed other recent crashes in North America. An Army helicopter collided with a passenger jet in Washington, killing 67 people, while at least seven people died when a medical transport plane crashed in Philadelphia and 10 were killed in a passenger plane crash in Alaska.

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Tariffs could affect Great Lakes shipping

Peter Passi — Tue, 04 Feb 2025 15:00:41 GMT

DULUTH — Tariffs of 25% against sales of goods from Canada and Mexico that were set to take effect on Tuesday have been placed on hold for at least 30 days to allow for further negotiations. As the diplomatic saber-rattling temporarily subsides, area businesses and residents continue to prepare for the possibility that new barriers to North American trade may spring up in the weeks to come.

Northland interests have much riding on how those pending trade talks go.

Tony Barrett, emeritus professor of economics for the College of St. Scholastica, said that if illegal border crossings and the flow of fentanyl into the U.S. are the true rationale for the sanctions, as the Trump administration maintains, the issue likely could be addressed shortly and with minimal economic disruption.

But if the nature of the trade dispute becomes muddier, he suggested the consequences could be far worse.

“If the dispute becomes protracted, nothing economically positive will come from it,” Barrett predicted.

Given the current configuration of auto-making operations, with parts and vehicles flowing throughout North America, he said economists project the proposed 25% tariffs could add about $3,000 to the cost of a new vehicle purchased in the U.S. In turn, Barrett noted that higher prices for new vehicles would likely bleed into the domestic used-car market, too.

“Things like this work their way out down the food chain,” Barrett said, explaining that the expense will be passed forward.

“It will end up costing consumers more,” he said. “The idea that the exporting countries will pay the tariffs simply is not true. It would be nice to believe that, but they won’t.”

Some have speculated the Trump administration aims to use the threat of tariffs to get an early jump on renegotiating the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement — a revamped version of NAFTA, short for the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Inu Manak, a fellow for trade policy at the Council on Foreign Relations, noted that the U.S. proposes to levy tariffs under the guise of the International Emergency Powers Act, claiming a crisis at its borders due to illegal immigration and drug smuggling.

“If that’s the president’s goal, it has nothing to do with declaring a national emergency at the southern border,” she said.

As Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau noted, less than 1% of both fentanyl seizures and illegal border crossings have been documented at the northern border of the U.S. However, Canada pledged to invest $1.3 billion to beef up its border security to address U.S. concerns.

Manak warned against attempting to rationalize the actions of the Trump administration “because I think this was kind of quickly put together, and if you look at the executive orders, clearly was not well thought through.”

She said that a strong counter-response by Canada should come as no surprise if tariffs take effect, including actions that could drive up the cost of fuel in the U.S.

“There are considerations of export charges on oil and gas coming out of Canada, and I think they’re within their rights to do so. So, we’re likely to see the escalation of a trade war come through,” Manak said. “But most importantly, we should not forget that what the president has used is (the International Emergency Powers Act), and it doesn’t quite make sense how you connect what he says is the threat to our use of tariffs.”

U.S. Pete Stauber, R-Minn., defends Trump’s use of a tariff threat to prompt movement in negotiations.

“We have already seen President Trump effectively use tariffs as a tool to extract policy wins for the American people,” said Stauber, a Hermantown resident who represents the 8th Congressional District. "During his first term, he enacted the 232 steel tariffs, which prevented China from flooding our markets with cheap steel and protected American mining interests on the Iron Range and the entire domestic steel industry.

“These tariffs were so effective that they were kept in place by the Biden administration,” Stauber said. “And just today, it was announced that Trump’s tariffs brought Mexico and Canada to the negotiating table, and they ultimately agreed to work with President Trump to secure our borders and tackle the fentanyl crisis. There will now be a 30-day delay on U.S. tariffs, allowing more time to reach fair economic agreements. I applaud President Trump for putting our country first and delivering real results for the American people.”

The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative issued a letter “to the growing chorus of American and Canadian leaders who oppose the prospect of a harmful trade war between our two countries.”

“The economic engine of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River Region supports over 50 million jobs that our residents count on,” the letter said. “The livelihoods of millions cannot be put at risk by putting these jobs in jeopardy.”

When asked if Duluth Mayor Roger Reinert had signed on to the letter, his office responded by saying that while it was aware of the initiative’s opposition to the proposed tariffs, “The (Initiative’s) statement was made on behalf of its membership without consulting the city of Duluth. We are monitoring and evaluating any potential economic impacts of tariffs.”

Deb DeLuca, executive director of the Duluth Seaway Port Authority, said her staff is also closing tracking developments.

“Duluth-Superior is a world port, and global trade is part of our lifeblood,” she said. “Anything that inhibits free trade is generally a negative for the port, with the exception of policies that protect against foreign steel-dumping.”

DeLuca noted close ties between port cities on both sides of the border.

“Regarding Canada and the U.S. specifically, Duluth-Superior would likely suffer from tariffs imposed by either country,” she said. “Cargo volumes between our port and Canada total in the millions of tons each year, spread across categories like iron ore, lumber, salt, grain and general cargo. Almost a third of the iron ore that sailed from Duluth-Superior during the 2024 navigation season went to Canada.

“Our northern neighbor is a major trade partner,” DeLuca said. “and the net economic result of a trade war between Canada and the U.S. would likely be more negative than positive for our port.”

Nevertheless, Eric Peace, vice president of the Lake Carriers Association, which represents U.S.-flagged operators of the Great Lakes fleet, suggested the short-term effects of the proposed tariffs would likely be minimal on his organization’s members. In fact, he predicted it could lead to more business for its members, as carriers are called upon to move more domestic salt by way of water — shipments that nearly all involve Canadian salt shipped by Canadian vessels.

However, he acknowledged that a protracted trade dispute could prove more disruptive to the domestic automobile industry, potentially weakening demand for steel and slowing shipments of taconite.

Forest products could also take a hit, with the U.S. importing about one-third of its softwood lumber from Canada and relying heavily on its paper-making capacity, as well.

Forum Communications Co., the Fargo, North Dakota-based owner of the News Tribune, buys all of its newsprint from Canadian paper makers and would feel the direct impact of the proposed tariffs.

Aaron Becher, Forum Communications’ vice president of newspapers, said that if the threatened tariffs take effect, “It will present us with greater cost challenges that we will need to manage carefully.”

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Trump pauses 25% tariffs on Canadian goods after deal with Trudeau

Dave Goldiner / New York Daily News — Mon, 03 Feb 2025 22:32:27 GMT

President Trump pushed pause Monday on his plan for 25% tariffs on goods imported from Canada for a month after last-minute talks with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau produced a deal, potentially averting a costly trade war between two of the world’s closest allies and strongest trading partners.

After what he called a “good call” with Trump, Trudeau said Canada would be implementing tougher border security to fight illegal immigration and drug trafficking along the nation’s shared border.

“Proposed tariffs will be paused for at least 30 days while we work together,” Trudeau said on Monday, Feb. 3.

The deal, including $1.3 million in beefed-up border security and more troops, mirrored a similar agreement Trump forged with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum earlier in the day.

The levy on everything from Canadian timber and cars had been set to go into effect at midnight.

Canadian workers started pulling American booze off the shelves of government-run liquor stores in several provinces even before the U.S. tariffs went into effect.

Trudeau had threatened to counter Trump’s tariffs with an aggressive package of tit-for-tat Canadian taxes on American-made products, especially those made in pro-Trump states, like Kentucky bourbon. He warned more products would be added to the list if the dispute is not resolved quickly.

In a sign of a more damaging rift between the two strong allies, Canadian sports fans over the weekend started booing the national anthem at National Hockey League and National Basketball Association games in protest of Trump’s actions.

The north-of-the-border ally is responsible for only a tiny fraction of the undocumented immigration and illicit drugs that flow into the U.S according to data from the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Before the afternoon talk, Trump complained about the large trade deficit the U.S. runs with its neighbor and repeated his desire to force Canada to join the U.S.

“What I’d like to see (is) Canada become our 51st state,” Trump said. Canadian leaders from across the political spectrum scoff at the idea of joining the U.S.

If they ever happen, tariffs on Canada could see gasoline prices increase sharply at the pump, especially in the Midwest where Canadian crude oil makes up a larger share of refined petroleum products than elsewhere.

New car prices would be expected to jump significantly because automakers have closely integrated assembly lines in Canada and Mexico into their supply chains.

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