A bridge at the center of trade tensions
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What are President Trump's threats regarding the Gordie Howe International Bridge?
President Trump threatens to stop a new bridge between the US and Canada from opening. Live from the UK, this is the Marketplace Morning Report from the BBC World Service. I'm Guy Kilty. Good morning. President Trump says he'll prevent a multi-billion dollar bridge linking Canada and the United States from opening unless Canada compensates the US. In a lengthy social media post complaining about Canadian trade practices, Mr Trump suggested the US should own half of the Gordie Howe International Bridge, which connects the Canadian state of Ontario and the US state of Michigan. Here's the BBC's Gabrielle Sungaleta.
The bridge, which will connect Ontario and Michigan, has been entirely funded by the Canadian government. But Mr Trump said he wouldn't allow it to open until, in his words, the US had been fully compensated for everything Washington had given to Canada. It isn't clear what that means. The president criticised a range of Canadian trading practices as well as Prime Minister Mark Carney's recent trip to Beijing. Mr Trump again warned him against finalising a trade deal with China.
Gabrielle Sungaleta. Drew Dilkins, the Mayor of Windsor in Ontario, gave his reaction to our partners at CBC.
I really can't believe what I'm reading, but it's par for the course. And let's go back. The Gordie Howe Bridge, this has been a bridge and a conversation that really goes back 25 years. There have been successive U.S. presidents. There have been successive prime ministers that have been involved in the negotiations to get this bridge constructed. There have been presidential permits issued. And let's not forget, Canada paid for the construction of the bridge.
How is the bridge funding and ownership being discussed?
The U.S. didn't want to pay. Canada said, we think it's important. We're going to pay for it. We're going to fund it to help facilitate international trade. And so the president, on one hand, is criticizing a decision made by the government of Ontario to remove U.S. alcohol off the shelves. But on the other hand, he's saying, I don't want to open a facility that's actually going to facilitate more trade between the two nations. And then to layer on some conversation, I think the Post talked about China taking over hockey and banning hockey and stealing the Stanley Cup or something like that. Like, it's just insane.
Drew Dilkin's there. Let's do the numbers. BP's share price is down around 5% this morning after the oil giant reported a drop in annual profits. The company blamed a 20% fall in the price of crude oil last year. And Japanese stocks extended gains on the back of Prime Minister Sanae Takeuchi's general election win. The Nikkei 225 benchmark closed up 2%. Bangladesh and the US have signed a new trade agreement which will cut tariffs completely on clothes and textiles made using US-produced materials. Washington has also agreed to cut its reciprocal tariffs on Bangladesh from 20% to 19%. Bangladesh is the world's second largest exporter of clothes after China. Tariffs have been a defining part of President Donald Trump's economic agenda since he returned to office.
For farmers, this has meant dealing with disruption to export markets at a time of higher costs and lower produce prices. The BBC's Sam Fenix had a chat with three farmers about their experiences.
This relief will provide much-needed certainty to farmers as they get... Late last year, Donald Trump unveiled financial aid worth $12 billion for farmers to help them navigate export losses and persistent inflation. Anne Schwagel is a grain farmer in Minnesota and vice president of the Minnesota Farmers Union.
The last year with the number of tariffs, retaliatory tariffs, we have seen our markets really be increasingly volatile. And our inputs are incredibly high right now. And many grain producers in the Upper Plains, including myself, We're growing grains below the cost of production.
Inflation has pushed costs up at a time when prices for some crops are down thanks to strong harvests and lower demand. On top of that, tariffs push Chinese buyers to look to other markets for soybeans.
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