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Premiers meeting in Ontario to tackle Trump tariff ultimatum and internal trade barriers

Premiers meeting in Ontario to tackle Trump tariff ultimatum and internal trade barriers

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Tariffs and trade are top of the agenda as the country's premiers arrive in Ontario's cottage country for a three-day meeting that comes at a pivotal time for both Canada-U.S. and domestic relations.
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The premiers' summer gathering in Muskoka will also feature a Tuesday meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney, as trade talks with the United States are expected to intensify.
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Most of what the premiers are likely to discuss stems from U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs: trade negotiations, the direct impact on industries such as steel and aluminum, the increased pushes to remove interprovincial trade barriers and speed up major infrastructure and natural resource projects to counteract the effects of tariffs, as well as Indigenous communities' concerns about them.
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Carney himself is fresh off a meeting with hundreds of First Nations chiefs, many of whom have expressed concerns about their rights being sidelined as the prime minister looks to accelerate projects in the 'national interest.'
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Some of the top priorities premiers are pushing include pipelines and mining in Ontario's Ring of Fire region, and chiefs have said that must not happen by governments skirting their duty to consult.
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Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who has served for the past year as head of the Council of the Federation, is host of the meeting and said in a statement that protecting national interests will be top of mind.
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'This meeting will be an opportunity to work together on how to respond to President Trump's latest threat and how we can unleash the full potential of Canada's economy,' Ford wrote.
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Trump and Carney agreed in June at the G7 summit to try and reach a trade deal by July 21, but Trump recently moved that deadline to Aug. 1, while telling Carney he intends to impose 35 per cent across-the-board tariffs on Canada that same day.
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Carney has said Canada is trying to get an agreement on softwood lumber exports included in the negotiations with the United States.
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timean hour ago

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Now even more rides on Harvard's case. Earlier this month, Trump said a deal with Harvard appeared imminent, only to lash out at the university this week following a court hearing in one of Harvard's legal battles. 'A big part of it is going to be how much Harvard gets in the future,' Trump told reporters this week. 'And they're not going to get very much.' Even before Trump took office, more universities had been pulling back on DEI and taking other steps to backtrack on what some see as a leftward political drift. Yet if the Columbia agreement becomes a model, it could force an even deeper reckoning. The agreement requires full compliance with the administration's interpretation of Title IX, the federal law barring sex discrimination in education. Trump officials have used the law to force the removal of transgender athletes from women's sports. The deal also requires regular reports to ensure Columbia does not 'promote unlawful DEI goals.' On admissions, the settlement pushes Columbia to limit the consideration of race even beyond the Supreme Court's 2023 decision ending affirmative action. That decision left open the possibility that universities could consider an applicant's discussion of how their race affected their life, including in college application essays. The Columbia deal appears to bar such considerations. It also requires Columbia to heighten scrutiny of international students and ask questions about their reasons for wanting to study in the United States. It orders the school to take steps to 'decrease financial independence' on international students. Columbia has one of the largest international student populations in the nation, making up about 40 per cent of its enrollment. How much Columbia ceded in exchange may not be clear for years. There's also no guarantee that the school is fully in the clear — the agreement leaves open the possibility of future 'compliance reviews, investigations, defunding or litigation' by the government. Still, Trump commended the university for doing 'what is right.' 'I look forward to watching them have a great future in our Country, maybe greater than ever before!' he said on his social media platform. The Associated Press' education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at Collin Binkley, The Associated Press

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