A Canadian view of world events, and what they do to all of us.
Conflict, sanctions, energy and food security, traced from the event to the household bill. Every claim carries its label. We print every source address in full and we do not link out.
The Strait Was Declared Open. The Barrels Did Not Return.
On April 8 the White House announced that Iran had agreed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. On September 2 the Governor of the Bank of Canada told a press conference that shipments through the strait are still curtailed, that Canadian inflation is sitting at around three per cent with gasoline named as the main reason, and that stripping gasoline out leaves it at 2.2 per cent.
On September 12 Saudi Arabia shut the 1,200 kilometre pipeline built to carry crude around that strait, after a drone strike it attributes to a launch from Iraq. The same day Houthi forces took Mayun Island, which sits in Bab al-Mandeb, the exit that the bypass route depends on.
The Strait Was Declared Open. The Barrels Did Not Return.
On April 8 the White House announced that Iran had agreed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. On September 2 the Governor of the Bank of Canada told a press conference that shipments through the strait are still curtailed, that Canadian inflation is sitting at around three per cent with gasoline named as the main reason, and that stripping gasoline out leaves it at 2.2 per cent.
Trade War Escalates to Fever Pitch
On September 8 Canada’s counter-tariffs took effect on $27.6 billion of American goods, matching Washington’s rates product by product. The same day the President signed five proclamations that go past taxing Canadian goods to barring some of them from entering the United States at all. Those import bans start on September 29.
Beijing Announced It. Ottawa Did Not.
Canada and China held military talks on September 4 for the first time in eight years. China’s defence ministry published an account of it. The Canadian government published nothing, and confirmed it only when reporters asked, on September 8, the day Canada’s counter-tariffs took effect against Washington.
From Coup to Contract: How Washington and Beijing Pursue Resources Abroad
Since the 1953 overthrow of Iran’s prime minister, the United States has repeatedly used covert action and military force to secure resource access abroad, most recently in Venezuela. China has built its own global reach instead through loans and infrastructure, a strategy now cooling as its own ledger comes due.
Canada Backs the Fight; the Bill Falls Hardest on the Young
In Youngstown, Ohio, a homebuilder reports three or four planned houses that have not gone ahead this year, and an aluminum fabricator has shelved its expansion into Ontario and Quebec. Across the border, most Canadians back standing firm against U.S. tariffs even if it costs them, but that resolve is not evenly held: it is strongest among older, financially secure Canadians and weakest among the young. Canada’s own counter-tariffs land at one minute past midnight on September 8, the point where that resolve first meets a bill of its own making.
Canada Walks; Talks Collapse
Canada suspended trade talks with the United States late on Friday, August 21, after Prime Minister Mark Carney said Washington’s last-hour demands touched Canadian sovereignty, the French language and the auto sector. A 50 percent U.S. tariff on a defined list of Canadian goods took effect hours later. Carney has set September 8 for dollar-for-dollar retaliation. The product list and rates are not yet published.
US OKs Venezuela Telecom Repairs. Investment Talks Open, Not Investment.
Two licenses issued the same day let U.S. companies sell equipment and negotiate investment with Venezuela’s state telecom system, eight months after Maduro’s removal and eight weeks after an earthquake that cost the sector an estimated five billion dollars. The sourced chain stops at the wholesale authorization; no source connects it yet to a household phone or internet bill.
Treasury Extends Lukoil’s Sale Deadline to September 19
A licence to negotiate Lukoil’s foreign refineries and filling stations has been renewed on a rolling basis since November, as Bulgaria and Romania post the EU’s steepest June fuel-price increases.
Hizballah Cash-Courier Network Targeted
Ten people named for moving cash to Hizballah between Lebanon, Turkiye, the UAE and Iran, as Treasury ties the group’s re-designation directly to Iran’s Qods Force.
Treasury Sanctions Ecuador’s Cocaine Fishing Fleet
OFAC designated 15 Ecuador-based individuals and blocked 10 vessels linked to Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel and CJNG, alongside a lethal US strike campaign the DEA’s own review says hasn’t reduced the cocaine supply.
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