Weekly Review (Feb 9 – 16, 2025)

Special tariffs.

  • Canadian and US companies are already feeling the effects of Trump’s 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), most metal imports come from the United States’ closest trading partners: Canada, Mexico, Europe, South Korea and Japan.
  • Experts agree that all tariffs cause inflation. The cost of the tax is passed on to consumers. In addition, the specific taxes on aluminium and steel will first affect the industry.
  • Trump did this during his first term, claiming it would boost domestic steel and aluminum production. According to the WSJ, the steel and aluminum tariffs are strategic and not intended as a negotiating tactic.
  • Even if US producers switch to domestic steel and aluminum producers, they are likely to pay higher prices. With a tariff of 25%, domestic producers in the US could raise their prices by up to 15% and still be able to compete. This confirms inflation concerns.
  • The Bank of Canada says the trade war will hurt Canada more than the US. GDP would fall for both countries, but the loss of GDP would be much greater for Canada, because we have a more open economy and exports are mainly oriented towards the US.

Politics in Ontario

Election Day in Ontario is February 27! Vote by mail or in person!

  • Ontario’s four major party leaders are Marit Stiles, leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP), Mike Schreiner, leader of the Ontario Green Party, Bonnie Crombie, leader of the Ontario Liberal Party, and Doug Ford, current Ontario Premier and leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservatives (PCs).
  • Ontario Liberal leader Crombie and NDP leader Stiles, seen as Ford’ s main rivals, both made a series of election promises in the first two weeks that did not detail how much the measures would cost taxpayers.
  • Meanwhile, Ontario Green Party leader Schreiner is the first and only leader to explain the expected costs of his promises in his political platform.
  • Ford has also failed to explain the costs of his election promises, but as Premier he controls the provincial budget and his government is likely to have prepared a fully detailed budget.
  • Polling analysts reported that based on the latest polls, the Ontario PCs are currently projected to win about 45% of the vote, about 100 seats in the Ontario Parliament. It is currently difficult to determine who will be the official opposition, the NDP or the Liberals.

The War in Ukraine

Let us honour the courage and resilience of the Ukrainian people. Together, let’s make February 23 a day with a strong reminder of our unwavering unity and determination to stand together with Ukraine until victory.

  • On February 23, we gather in cities across Canada forUkrainian-organisedprotests to mark the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Glory to Ukraine! Follow the LNAK calendar and the LNAK Facebook page.
  • Trump wants what he calls “equalization” of the support the US has given to Ukraine after the full-scale Russian invasion. He wants this payment to be in Ukrainian rare earth metals. Trump wants a payment worth 500 billion US dollars.
  • Surrender and betrayal – these are the words used by Ukraine’s allies in the US and Europe to describe President Trump’s announcement that he has agreed with the Russian leader to immediately start negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine.
  • Europeans insist that such negotiations must not take place without Ukraine and Europe’s participation. Trump had an hour and a half telephone conversation with the Russian President on Wednesday, which he described as “very productive”.
  • The US Secretary of Defence stated that it is unrealistic for Ukraine to achieve its war goas – to drive Russian troops out of the Crimean peninsula and the eastern part of the country, and to restore Ukraine to its pre-2014 borders.
  • Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže (New Unity) said in an interview on Wednesday that the US President’s telephone conversations with the Russian leader and Ukrainian President Zelensky are only the beginning of a possible peace process.
  • “Our security situation, the strength of NATO, America’s central role in NATO, the deployment of forces that are with us: it will be very important for us that this is not weakened in any way,” said Braže.
  • Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that he will not accept any agreements between Moscow and Washington without Ukraine and its European partners.
  • In a joint statement with France, Germany, Poland, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom, European Union foreign affairs representative Kaja Kallas stressed that Ukraine’s independence and territorial integrity are non-negotiable.
  • NATO Secretary General Mark Rieth said that Ukraine should be closely involved in all decision-making about Ukraine.

Latvia and the European Union

  • On Thursday, the State Security Service detained pro-Kremlin activist Aleksandrs Gapoņenko for his remarks against the Latvian state at a discussion in Moscow.
  • The Prosecutor General’s Office handed over a criminal case to the court on Thursday for desecrating a legionnaries’ memorial site on the orders of the Russian special services.

Not Serious

  • An online petition calling for Denmark to buy California has already gathered more than 200,000 signatures. The humorously toned campaign with the slogan “Let’s Make California Great Again”, comes at a time when Trump has shown interest in buying Greenland from Denmark or even taking the Arctic island by force.

Jānis Lielāmers

LNAK Affairs

News sources: CBC News, www.ir.lv, www.lsm.lv