Following last-minute talks with the two US neighbors, President Donald Trump threatened to impose high tariffs on Canada and Mexico, but he has deferred them for 30 days.
He can claim success by citing border and crime enforcement concessions. However, Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico and Justin Trudeau of Canada can also claim political victories.
For now, a trade war that would cause economic upheavals in North America and abroad has been put on pause. So who blinked first and what happens next?
Trump brinkmanship appears to pay off
Courtney Subramanian, Washington, DC, BBC News
Both Canada and Mexico have agreed to tighter border security and are taking more significant action to combat fentanyl trafficking, suggesting that President Trump’s high-stakes conflict with the US’s closest trading allies has paid dividends.
Trump’s “America first” policy wins thanks to the tactic of using the US economy to pressure other nations into making concessions. This way, he can continue to address important domestic concerns without having to worry about the financial fallout from a continental trade war.
His tariff strategy is not really novel.
Mexico, Canada, and the European Union reacted negatively to Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs during his first term, but analysts believe those actions were more restricted.
This time, Trump has pledged broad duties on products from Canada, Mexico, and China, which is still scheduled to experience a 10% hike in tariffs on commodities beginning Tuesday at midnight.
However, it’s still uncertain if Trump would actually carry out his threats against Canada and Mexico when the 30-day period expires. Businesses may become less dependent on American markets as a result of this uncertainty, delaying investments in new factories or recruiting staff until the trade dispute is resolved.
Follow live: China announces retaliatory action as Trump tariffs take effect
Lame-duck Trudeau pulls off a trade truce
By Jessica Murphy, Toronto’s BBC News
It was a general sigh of relief from Canadian politicians and business leaders at the 30-day halt on US tariffs, not a January Arctic blast from the north.
A temporary truce in what was threatening to be a disastrous trade war is a political victory for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, even though tariffs are still a possibility.
With Trudeau finishing his final weeks in office as a lame duck prime minister, Canadian MPs have been frantically trying to determine what will specifically please Trump. This position has not been made any easier by domestic politics in Canada.
Not all of the border security measures that were unveiled on Monday are novel.
Canada announced C$1.3 billion ($900 million; £700 million) in steps in December, including new tools for law enforcement, improved coordination with US law enforcement, and efforts to disrupt the fentanyl trade.
Recently, two Black Hawk helicopters and Canadian surveillance drones started circling the border between the two nations.
For weeks, officials have pointed to those initiatives as evidence that they are paying attention to Trump’s border worries.
The creation of a “fentanyl tsar” and a C$200 million intelligence directive to combat fentanyl and organized crime seem to be new components.
What this signifies for the future of the US-Canada relationship is one unanswered question. The economic risks posed by Trump have severely strained the alliance.
Mexico’s Sheinbaum buys herself time
By Will Grant, Mexico City-based BBC Correspondent for Central America and Cuba
President Claudia Sheinbaum has urged “calm” and “cool heads” throughout current trade turmoil.
She expressed confidence that a last-minute exception from the 25% tariffs on Mexican goods will be granted even on Friday. And so it turned out after a phone conversation with President Trump in the early hours of the morning.
Her fans have hailed what they consider as a tutorial in how to bargain with Donald Trump as she announced the agreement shortly after, barely able to hide her smile.
Yes, she consented to deploy National Guard soldiers to the border to combat fentanyl smuggling, but more importantly, she got what she sought directly from Trump.
She also persuaded Trump to “promise” that the United States will take greater action to combat the flow of powerful weapons into Mexico from the United States, preventing them from falling into the hands of cartel gunmen, in addition to the obvious—a halt on tariffs.
However, she also purchased time, which is another essential resource.
She now has a few weeks to implement the agreements made during that phone conversation and make the tariffs’ temporary halt permanent.
It is anticipated that Secretary of State Marco Rubio will soon travel to Mexico to address these issues and that Mexican and American health and security officials will form a joint fentanyl working group. Sheinbaum has only been in office since October, so if she is successful in stopping additional trade wars, it will be the first major win for her new administration. Additionally, it might influence how we communicate with President Trump and his administration going forward.
Another witness, a school girl who only provided her first name, Marwa, recounted a challenging situation in which she and a few others attempted to save a life.
“I got shot in the shoulder by the guy next me. He was heavily bleeding. “Three people were bleeding on the floor when I turned to look behind me,” she told TV4 Sweden.
A shawl was wrapped around the man’s shoulder “so that he wouldn’t bleed so much” in an attempt to assist him by Marwa and another acquaintance.
“Everyone was so shocked.”
Speaking on Tuesday, Prime Minister Kristersson said it was “a very painful day for all in Sweden” and that everyone who had a “normal school day” turned “with terror” is in his
In a post on X, Kristersson stated, “Being confined to a classroom with fear for your own life is a nightmare that no one should have to experience.”
Later, he emphasized that there were no further hazards associated with going to school the following day and urged people to provide police the freedom and space they require to carry out their duties and investigations.
A life sentence, with a minimum of 24 years, has been imposed on a shooter who opened fire on gang rivals who were attending a wake.
In February 2023, Meshaq Berryman opened fire from a stolen vehicle in Birmingham’s Handsworth neighborhood.
A young girl was crushed and gravely injured, while three men were damaged.
Following a trial at Birmingham Crown Court, where it was heard that the shot was “part of a plan to kill” rather than a random act, Berryman was convicted guilty on three charges of attempted murder.
Prosecutors told Judge Melbourne Inman that the shooting was a “street war” between Berryman’s gang, the Birmingham 9Boyz, and a rival gang called Armed Response.
Judge Inman, who sentenced the 22-year-old, stated that gang violence had become a “scourge of the city” in this instance.
He claimed that Berryman showed no remorse and persisted in denying involvement in spite of the “overwhelming evidence”.
“A very grave danger to the public” was still evident, the court added.
Prosecutor Lisa Hancox emphasized the victims of Berryman’s continued psychological and physical suffering throughout sentence.
After being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the little girl hurt in the stampede experienced persistent shoulder pain, nightmares, and flashbacks.