Canada is retaliating “dollar for dollar” after the U.S. levied steep tariffs over the weekend following a breakdown in trade talks. Ottawa’s new tariffs cover more than 700 U.S. goods and are worth about $20 billion, mirroring the size of Trump’s latest import taxes on Canadian wine, cement, hockey sticks and more. The numbers are blunt. So is the power behind them.
Washington has launched an economic offensive against Iran and Canada, with U.S. President Donald Trump taking on both countries at the same time. Trump has repeatedly declared that Tehran is beaten, while asserting that Canada could not survive without the U.S. That’s the language of domination, dressed up as policy. The people who’ll feel it aren’t the ones making the calls.
Who Pays for the Power Play
Among the most significant Canadian tariffs are 50% duties on American steel and aluminum, doubling the current rate. Other tariffed goods include dairy, seafood, appliances, wood and paper products, and clothes. Ottawa says it’s matching the scale of Trump’s move, but the fight still runs through the same top-down machinery: tariffs, counter-tariffs, and ordinary people stuck with the bill.
The U.S. imposed the new import taxes after trade talks broke down. Canada answered with its own wall of duties. That’s the state-to-state version of economic warfare, and it lands on workers, consumers and businesses long before it touches the men who announce it from podiums.
The Financial System as a Weapon
In China, the U.S. is threatening to cut businesses that help Iran evade sanctions off from the American financial system. China can reject the demands, but its biggest lenders still have strong incentives to preserve access to U.S. dollars. Peter Alexander, Shanghai-based managing director of advisory Z-Ben, said China’s Cross-Border Interbank Payment System, or CIPS, showed it was trying to diversify from dollar-centered finance, without abandoning it altogether. CIPS transactions have picked up since the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022, and generally grown this year, according to official figures.
That’s the choke point. The American financial system doesn’t just move money; it disciplines everyone who needs access to it. The threat isn’t subtle. Cut off the wrong business, and the message travels fast through boardrooms and banks.
Hormuz, Mines, and Competing Claims
Iran looks to be shutting the U.S. out from efforts to open the critical Strait of Hormuz as it negotiates with Oman to establish a temporary joint shipping route and a mission to clear mines from the key oil export corridor. Oman’s foreign minister said “practical arrangements to restore safe navigation” will be announced soon and described talks with Iran’s top diplomat, Abbas Araghchi, in Tehran as constructive. Muscat’s reference to a mine-clearing mission also appeared to contradict President Donald Trump’s statement earlier Tuesday that the U.S. Navy had informed him all mines had been removed from international waters in Hormuz.
The competing claims matter because control over shipping lanes means control over trade itself. Iran and Oman are talking about routes, mines and navigation. Washington is talking about what it says the Navy was told. Different voices, same struggle over who gets to command the corridor.
Markets Keep Moving, Workers Keep Waiting
Over in markets, all three major U.S. indexes rose overnight, with focus on chip stocks ahead of Nvidia’s results. Shares of the Jensen Huang-helmed company were up 2%, snapping a seven-day decline. Advanced Micro Devices and Micron Technology added 4.9% and 2.5%, respectively.
Amid a war for talent in AI, the exodus at OpenAI continues. The company’s head of data centers, Chris Malone, has left, adding to the wave of recent executive departures. His departure comes after OpenAI’s revenue chief, Denise Dresser, suddenly announced earlier this month that she would be leaving the company after less than a year in her role. Her exit came just days after Brad Lightcap, another longtime executive, said he was ending an eight-year run at OpenAI to “start something new.”
Apple announced new Mac Mini and Mac Studio models with AI upgrades. With more consumers turning to Apple’s computers for creating and running AI agents, the company is rolling out new Mac Mini and Mac Studio models with updated chips and other upgrades for artificial intelligence applications. The Mac Mini can now be configured with two new chips, the M6 and M5 Pro. It’s the first Apple computer with an M6-generation chip, which is manufactured on a 2-nanometer process from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Prices are also going up. The computer now starts at $899, up $100 from the prior model. That followed an increase over the summer from $599, which Apple blamed on memory costs.
The corporate side of the story keeps humming along while governments throw tariffs and threats at each other. The executives move, the chips get faster, the prices climb. Everyone else gets the invoice.