*PM says Trump is trying to make it easier to annex Canada — but it won't work *

An unbowed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday that Canada will hit back hard at the U.S. after President Donald Trump launched a North American trade war by slapping devastating 25 per cent tariffs on virtually all Canadian goods.

Speaking to reporters at a news conference on Parliament Hill, Trudeau said Trump is trying to prompt "a total collapse of the Canadian economy" because he thinks that will "make it easier to annex us."

But Trudeau said that will never happen because "when it comes to defending our great nation, there is no price we all aren't willing to pay."

Trudeau said Canada will not back down from a fight in the face of "completely bogus and completely unjustified" trade action that has the potential to ruin bilateral relations and prompt job losses, economic devastation and higher inflation on both sides of the border.

Global stocks tumbled on Tuesday as investors’ concerns over the future health of the economy mounted after President Trump’s broad tariffs against Canada, Mexico and China went into effect.

The S&P 500 fell over 1.8 percent, adding to the 1.8 percent loss on Monday that was its sharpest decline this year. The Nasdaq Composite index also dropped over 1 percent, putting the index in what is known as a correction, defined as a drop of 10 percent or more from its recent peak, which was set in December, although much of the sell-off has materialized over the past two weeks.

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, speaking from Parliament Hill on Tuesday, says Canada will immediately start imposing tariffs on $30 billion worth of U.S. goods. Trudeau said tariffs will be imposed on the remaining $125 billion of American products in 21 days as a response to U.S. tariffs that went into effect on Canada Tuesday.

Canada’s province of Ontario will slap a 25% export tax on electricity it sends to 1.5 million homes in Minnesota, Michigan and New York, in retaliation for President Trump’s tariffs, said Doug Ford, Ontario’s leader.

Ford added that he will direct the province’s energy producers to shut down the exports entirely if Trump moves ahead with even more tariffs on April 2. He said he would direct his minister of energy to redirect energy from an Ontario nuclear reactor to local manufacturers instead.

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Canada’s province of Ontario will slap a 25% export tax on electricity it sends to 1.5 million homes in Minnesota, Michigan and New York, in retaliation for President Trump’s tariffs, said Doug Ford, Ontario’s leader.

Ford added that he will direct the province’s energy producers to shut down the exports entirely if Trump moves ahead with even more tariffs on April 2. He said he would direct his minister of energy to redirect energy from an Ontario nuclear reactor to local manufacturers instead.

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President Trump’s rancorous threat to abandon Ukraine is stoking support for a long-debated proposal to use billions of dollars in frozen Russian assets to buy weapons for Ukraine and finance its reconstruction.

The money — roughly $300 billion owned by Russia’s central bank — was frozen by the United States, the European Union, Britain and others after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The aim was to punish President Vladimir V. Putin for his unprovoked attack and to cut off funds he could use to wage war.

As the war grinds on into its fourth year, a growing number of officials in Europe and elsewhere have been calling for the money to be released to directly compensate Ukraine.

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President Trump likes to cite the stock market when it’s rising as a sign of his policy success, so what does he think about Monday’s plunge? The Dow Jones Industrial Average took a 650-point header after he announced that he’ll hit Mexico and Canada on Tuesday with 25% tariffs.

Mr. Trump said at the White House there was “no room left” to negotiate with the two American trade treaty partners. Some of his smarter advisers have been hoping he’d start renegotiating the USMCA and delay the tariffs. But Mr. Trump wants tariffs for their own sake, which he says will usher in a new golden age.

We’ve courted Mr. Trump’s ire by calling the Mexico and Canada levies the “dumbest” in history, and we may have understated the point. Mr. Trump is whacking friends, not adversaries. His taxes will hit every cross-border transaction, and the North American vehicle market is so interconnected that some cars cross a border as many as eight times as they’re assembled.

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U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered a suspension of all military aid to Ukraine, escalating pressure on President Volodymyr Zelensky mere days after a heated exchange in the Oval Office cast doubt on U.S. support for Kyiv.

A senior Defense Department official told Bloomberg that all U.S. military assistance to Ukraine is on hold until Trump determines that Ukrainian leaders are making a genuine effort toward peace.

The pause affects not only future aid but also weapons already in transit, including shipments on aircraft and ships, as well as equipment awaiting transfer in Poland.

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Edit: changed source from Bloomberg to Kyiv Independent b/c there's no paywall and more detail in the story.

The Israeli government is reportedly planning to ratchet up its blockade on Gaza as part of what it has called a “hell plan” to pressure Hamas into further hostage releases without a troop withdrawal from the Palestinian territory.

With the six-week-old ceasefire in limbo, and no sign of movement towards a second phase that was due to start last weekend, both sides were taking contingency steps to return to a war footing.

The government of Benjamin Netanyahu was reported to have made preparations to go beyond the suspension of food and fuel announced on Sunday, to implement a programme of steadily increased isolation of the coastal strip and its population of about 2.2 million, according to the national public radio station, Kan, which said the government was referring to the programme of measures as the “hell plan”.

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The buyer’s remorse is playing out at a volatile moment for Tesla, as stocks dropped by double digits in the last week, wiping out most of a post-election surge for Mr. Musk’s company. A recent report showed plummeting sales in Europe, and the company faces increased competition from other E.V. makers eating away at its market share. Recent protests outside Tesla showrooms in the United States and some notable cases of vehicle owners being harassed have also made headlines.

Ms. Trebb, 54, a family therapist and a Democrat, said she had decided to trade in her Tesla for a gas-powered Mercedes, accepting $32,000 of the Tesla’s original $55,880 value, despite having only 10,000 miles on it. Her decision, she said, was cemented during a recent trip to the supermarket.

“Two weeks ago, I was called a Nazi,” she said, “in the parking lot at Kroger,” adding an expletive. “I came home and told my husband, ‘That’s it. I’m done.’”

A number of defectors from the Tesla brand said that a deal-breaker was when Mr. Musk extended his arm diagonally upward, palm facing down while speaking at an inauguration event for Mr. Trump, a gesture that resembled a salute used in Nazi Germany and fascist Italy.

“I’m sort of embarrassed to be seen in that car now,” said Ms. Trebb, who got a bumper sticker that said, “I bought this before Elon went crazy,” one that has gained popularity.

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The US will press ahead with steep tariffs on Canada and Mexico from Tuesday, Donald Trump has said, setting the stage for a trade war with his country’s two largest economic partners.

Hours before his administration was due to hit America’s closest neighbors with sweeping import duties, the US president claimed there was “no room left” for a deal to avoid their imposition. The announcement led to a sharp sell-off on Wall Street.

All Mexican exports to the US are set to face a levy of 25% under the plans. Most Canadian exports will face a 25% tariff, with energy products facing a 10% duty.

. . .

The action is set to prompt swift retaliation. “We’re ready,” said the Canadian foreign minister, Mélanie Joly.

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The rift between Washington and Kyiv over a potential ceasefire in the war with Russia deepened on Monday as Donald Trump expressed new outrage at Volodymyr Zelenskyy for saying that the end of the war could be “very, very far away”.

In a post to social media on Monday, Trump posted a link to an Associated Press story outlining Zelenskyy’s comments and said: “This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelenskyy, and America will not put up with it for much longer!

“It is what I was saying, this guy doesn’t want there to be Peace as long as he has America’s backing and, Europe, in the meeting they had with Zelenskyy, stated flatly that they cannot do the job without the US,” Trump continued.

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