外媒每日新闻 US-Canada Tariff War & Bond Market Edition

The United States imposed 50% tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian products early Saturday, and Canada immediately said it would retaliate after last-ditch negotiations failed. President Trump's import taxes will hit about 5% of what Canada ships to the U.S. annually, ranging from hockey sticks to tongue depressors. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada "will match those tariffs dollar for dollar" and suspended negotiations, recalling his team to Ottawa. The breakdown marks a sharp reversal from just days earlier when compromise seemed imminent. Trump invoked the rarely-used Section 338 of the 1930 Tariff Act — a Depression-era law — to impose the tariffs. The two countries, which traded $880 billion in goods and services last year, now face escalating trade tensions that threaten the future of the USMCA agreement.^[1]

A Russian drone strike on a shopping center in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih killed 16 people and wounded 130 on Friday, with nine still missing. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy called it a "double-tap strike" — a first wave of drones followed by a second wave as rescue workers responded. The attack on Zelenskyy's hometown came as Russia intensifies ballistic missile strikes on Kyiv, exploiting Ukraine's chronic shortage of U.S.-made Patriot air defense interceptors. On Saturday, new Russian missile and drone attacks killed three more people across Ukraine, while a Ukrainian drone strike on Russia's Krasnodar region killed two children. The shopping mall fire spread across 9,000 square meters before being extinguished. The UN said Kyiv was one of the hardest-hit cities in July, with at least 54 civilians killed.^[2]

President Trump is threatening to sue the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning Washington think tank, unless it retracts a report concluding his National Guard deployments "had no measurable effect on violent crime trends." Trump's attorney gave the center until end of business Friday to issue a retraction or face a $5 billion defamation lawsuit. CAP President Neera Tanden called the threat "a transparent attempt to silence us" and refused to retract, saying the findings were based on crime data analysis and were simply "inconvenient to the Trump administration." The July 13 report had criticized the administration for taking credit for a historic drop in violent crime that was already underway. Threatening lawsuits over unfavorable coverage is a well-worn playbook for Trump, who previously targeted law firms and media outlets.^[3]

The bond market, one of the few forces powerful enough to make politicians snap to attention, is again asserting itself. This week's rising yields forced the Treasury Department into an unusual intervention, but the relief was only temporary — the 10-year yield climbed back to 4.74% Friday, its highest in over a year. With the U.S. bond market at $31.5 trillion, Treasurys now face stiff competition from higher-yielding bonds overseas: Japanese 30-year bonds pay over 4%, U.K. yields hit 5.81%, and German bonds pay 3.76%. Higher yields directly impact Americans through costlier mortgages, car loans, and credit card rates, while benefiting savers. Most ominously, the federal government has already paid $931 billion in interest on its debt through the first 10 months of the fiscal year — more than it spent on health, national defense, or veterans benefits.^[5]

The U.S. dollar fell Friday, approaching a three-month low against the euro, as markets questioned whether Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's bond buyback strategy is backfiring. The dollar index slipped 0.05% to 98.79, while the euro rose to $1.1682 — having earlier touched $1.1711, its highest since May 14. Sterling gained 0.04% to $1.3635, its highest since February 11. Strategists warn that Bessent's attempt to suppress long-term yields through larger buybacks may simply be shifting fiscal concerns onto the currency rather than solving the underlying problem. The dollar weakness comes as traders look ahead to Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's Jackson Hole speech next Friday, with fed funds futures pricing a 35% chance of a September rate hike and 69% by December.^[6]

Wall Street closed higher Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average leading the way with a 0.99% gain to 53,280.14. The S&P 500 rose 0.43% to 7,674.10 and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.43% to 26,179.37. However, both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq snapped three-week winning streaks, while the Dow fell for a second straight week. The mixed performance came as investors weighed rising bond yields against signs of economic resilience. Energy stocks led gains as oil prices climbed to near four-week highs, while tech stocks struggled amid higher interest rates. Investors are now turning their attention to next week's Jackson Hole symposium for clues about the Fed's interest rate path.^[7]

Remnants of Hurricane Beryl dumped heavy rain on Vermont, causing severe flooding exactly one year after catastrophic floods devastated the state. Raging floodwaters knocked down bridges and tore away much of an apartment building in Plainfield, with residents still awaiting federal assistance from last year's disaster. The cruel timing — floods striking on the anniversary of a previous disaster — has amplified frustration among Vermonters who feel the federal response has been insufficient. Governor Phil Scott declared a state of emergency as communities assessed damage and began cleanup efforts. The repeated flooding has raised questions about whether infrastructure investments and climate adaptation measures are keeping pace with increasingly extreme weather patterns.^[9]

Nearly 200 activists in Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s "Make America Healthy Again" movement are criticizing Trump's promotion of coal to fuel AI data centers, marking the first major MAHA mobilization over fossil fuels and the latest rift with the administration. In a letter to Trump, the activists lament a 2025 executive order boosting coal for data centers and ask the administration to consider renewable options including solar and geothermal energy. "American AI leadership should not come at the cost of a more toxic burden for American children," the letter reads. The White House countered that greenhouse gas emissions dropped to a 30-year low during Trump's first term. The rift could have political consequences ahead of November midterms, as MAHA activists represent a key voting bloc that helped Trump win re-election.^[10]

TikTok has reached a $400 million settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice, ending a 2024 lawsuit alleging the company violated federal children's privacy laws. TikTok will pay $300 million immediately and another $100 million after an order vacates an earlier consent decree against its predecessor company, Musical.ly. The DOJ called it "a major victory for American children and parents." The lawsuit alleged TikTok and parent company ByteDance violated COPPA by failing to get parental consent before collecting personal information from children under 13, and by not honoring parent requests to delete kids' accounts. Since the lawsuit, TikTok's U.S. arm has undergone major ownership changes, forming a joint venture with Oracle, Silver Lake, and UAE's MGX in January.^[11]

OpenAI has launched a version of ChatGPT designed specifically for teenagers aged 13 to 17, with stronger content restrictions around suicide, self-harm, and romantic or sexual chats. The teen version also provides homework and study support designed to help students learn rather than simply provide answers. "We want to treat teens like teens, which means showing up with the right developmental stage — not talking down to them, but also making sure they're not exposed to material they shouldn't be exposed to," said Ann O'Leary, OpenAI's VP of global policy. The chatbot is prevented from suggesting it has personal feelings or implying it is conscious. Parental controls include "quiet hours" and safety notifications for high-risk situations. More than 70% of U.S. teens already use AI chatbots for companionship, according to a 2025 Common Sense Media study.^[12]

Nvidia has denied a report from The Information that it plans to begin mass delivery of custom Language Processing Unit (LPU) chips to Chinese customers by year-end. "The Information's report about Nvidia LPU is incorrect. We currently have no LPU sales in the China market, and there is no China LPU product on our roadmap," an Nvidia spokesperson said. The denial comes amid ongoing tensions over U.S. export controls on AI chips to China. Washington has approved limited sales of Nvidia's H200 AI chips to select Chinese companies including Alibaba, Tencent, and ByteDance. The back-and-forth highlights the complex cat-and-mouse game around chip export controls, as U.S. restrictions push Chinese companies to accelerate domestic chip development while Nvidia seeks ways to maintain access to the world's second-largest economy.^[13]

The hashtag #USCanadaTariffs exploded on X Friday night as news broke that Trump had imposed 50% tariffs on $20 billion of Canadian goods and Prime Minister Carney promised "dollar-for-dollar" retaliation. Users expressed shock at the rapid deterioration of relations between two historic allies, with the invocation of the 1930 Smoot-Hawley-era Section 338 drawing particular alarm. Many compared the breakdown to a "neighborly divorce," noting the 5,525-mile undefended border and $2 billion in daily cross-border trade. A Canadian petition to expel the U.S. ambassador, which has collected nearly 248,000 signatures, went viral as a symbol of public anger. Trade experts warned on X that the rift could jeopardize the entire USMCA framework, with talks to renew the agreement already stalled on the Canadian side. Midterm election politics added another layer, with analysts debating whether higher consumer prices from tariffs would hurt Trump's party in November.^[15]

The hashtag #KryvyiRih trended globally as footage of the Russian drone strike on a shopping mall in Zelenskyy's hometown spread across social media. The "double-tap" tactic — striking first, then striking again when first responders arrive — drew particular condemnation, with users calling it a war crime. The attack killed 16 and wounded 130, with a 9,000-square-meter fire consuming the mall. But the conversation quickly shifted to a recurring question: "Where are the Patriots?" Users highlighted that Russia has been intensifying ballistic missile attacks on Kyiv specifically because of Ukraine's chronic shortage of U.S.-made Patriot interceptors — the only weapon in its arsenal capable of shooting down those missiles. The UN's report that Kyiv was one of the hardest-hit cities in July, with 54 civilians killed, added to the urgency. Debates raged on X about whether Western military aid is sufficient and whether the U.S. should expedite more air defense systems to Ukraine.^[16]

The hashtag #BondMarket dominated financial Twitter as 10-year yields hit 4.74% — a one-year high — just days after Treasury Secretary Bessent doubled buybacks to $4 billion per operation. The dollar's slide to a three-month low against the euro added to the sense that the administration's strategy is unraveling. Users on X debated whether Bessent's intervention was actually counterproductive: by trying to cap yields with buybacks, the Treasury may be signaling fiscal desperation to markets, which pushes yields higher and the dollar lower. The $931 billion in interest payments so far this fiscal year — more than defense or healthcare spending — was widely shared as a stark statistic. All eyes now turn to Fed Chair Warsh's Jackson Hole speech next Friday. Users joked that bond market vigilantes have returned from hibernation, and that the "bond market veto" on fiscal policy may be about to reassert itself in a big way.^[17]

The hashtag #ChatGPTforTeens trended in tech circles as OpenAI launched its first product specifically for the "AI-native" generation. Reactions were mixed: parents and educators welcomed stronger content restrictions on self-harm, suicide, and sexual content, but child safety advocates warned against a "false sense of safety." Many users noted the timing — the launch comes amid ongoing lawsuits against Meta and other social platforms for harming young users, and as regulators worldwide consider stricter rules for AI and children. The study finding that over 70% of U.S. teens already use AI chatbots for companionship sparked particular concern. Some on X argued that OpenAI is simply following Meta's playbook: create a "teen version" with extra protections to defuse regulatory pressure, while still monetizing young users. Others praised the move as a responsible step toward addressing a real need. The debate highlighted a broader question: can AI ever be truly "safe" for developing adolescent brains?^[18]