The Week Washington Stopped Pretending

World Briefing Plus: A 1930 law aimed at Canada, the last carrier out of Asia, and drills cut to flatter Kim Jong Un. Three stories, one lesson - and Kyiv should be reading it closely

The United States imposed 50% tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian products early Saturday, and Canada said it would retaliate beginning Sept. 8 after last-ditch negotiations failed to resolve the latest strain in relations between the historic allies.

Trade talks with Ottawa collapsed on Friday night. At the stroke midnight, 50% tariffs landed on $28 billion of Canadian goods. And get this: imposed under a provision of the 1930 Tariff Act that no president has used in 96 years. Mark Carney says Canada will match them dollar for dollar.

In this week’s exclusive subscriber video, I connect that to two things that happened in the same seven days: the USS George Washington leaving Asia, which now means no US carrier strike group west of San Diego. And Trump gutting joint exercises with Seoul while praising Pyongyang. Plus the strikes on Ukraine’s rail network, and why Russia’s campaign to sever Odesa from Moldova and Romania is no longer a theory.

This is what World Briefing Plus is for - the weekend video, plus subscriber-only dispatches during the week when something breaks and there’s more to say than a brief allows.

Next month, I’ll be at the UN General Assembly in New York, debating whether the UN is still fit for purpose. Expect a run of exclusive material from that week: what gets said in the corridors, in the dive bars, on the street - rather than at the podium. Paid subscribers get all of it.