Crypto News: Trump stirs Canadian fury

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President Donald Trump's trade war against Canada, Mexico and China has only just begun, but it's already caused a transformation north of the US border.

Trump imposed 25% tariffs on all Canadian imports today — save for a lower 10% levy on energy — while Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reacted with his own set of sweeping counter measures.

Canadians are furious.

Even before Trump proved he wasn't bluffing, they've been canceling US vacations, booing the American anthem at sporting events, and boycotting California wine and Kentucky bourbon.

People are even turning on one of Canada's national heroes, hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, over his personal friendship with Trump, who has menacingly discussed annexing Canada as the 51st state.

The spat is dramatically changing Canada's political landscape. For almost two years, Pierre Poilievre's Conservative Party enjoyed a massive lead in the polls over Trudeau's Liberals: A Conservative victory in the next election, due by October, seemed certain. But Poilievre's lead has evaporated since January.

The reversal is partly due to Trudeau's Jan. 6 resignation, which will take effect after his successor is chosen Sunday. But the backlash to Trump has taken over Canadian political discourse, creating a new sense of nationalism.

Poilievre, who spent months attacking Trudeau with the slogan "Canada is broken," is struggling to adapt. The Liberals have produced ads attempting to tie Poilievre to Trump, despite the US president's own disparagement of the Conservative leader.

The US tariffs will only intensify the fury. The public knows there's no basis for Trump's claim Canada is a major source of fentanyl. Polls show Canadians support major retaliation.

There's little doubt Canada's much smaller economy will take the bigger hit in a trade war, but Canadians appear ready to dig in and fight back regardless.

Patriotism in response to a foreign threat is a strong motivator. — Brian Platt

A Buy Canadian sign at a Honda dealership in Ontario on Feb. 15. Photographer: Brett Gundlock/Bloomberg

Global Must Reads

Trump ordered a pause to all military aid to Ukraine, turning up the heat on President Volodymyr Zelenskiy days after their Oval Office blowup left support from Ukraine's most important ally in doubt. The European Union will propose extending €150 billion ($158 billion) in loans to boost defense spending as the bloc tries to adjust to Trump's abrupt pullback of American security on the continent.

For the second time in a month, China retaliated against US tariffs with targeted actions that appeared calibrated to avoid escalation as Trump kicks off the global trade war, with Beijing's measures hitting goods the Asian nation can source from other countries. China announced tariffs as high as 15% on US agricultural goods and banned trade with some defense companies , after the Trump administration doubled a blanket tariff on all Chinese exports.

WATCH: Bloomberg's Brendan Murray reports on the escalating global trade war.

Taiwan has begun rethinking how it deals with the US after Trump's heated meeting with Zelenskiy, according to Defense Minister Wellington Koo. In remarks that referenced Trump and aggression from China, Koo told reporters in Taipei that "facing the rapidly changing international situation and escalating threats from the enemy, we cannot rely on the goodwill of others to maintain peace."

Smaller and more agile tankers are playing an increasingly important role in transporting Iranian oil to China as the illicit trade faces mounting pressure from US sanctions. The shift is likely due to their ability to discharge oil at shallower Chinese berths — such as Dongying — that are being used to receive Iranian and Russian shipments. OPEC+ meanwhile will proceed with plans to revive halted oil production after repeated delays amid pressure from Trump to lower oil prices.

An Arab League summit in Cairo today is set to endorse a Gaza reconstruction plan to counter Trump's proposals, sources say. While the leaders of countries including Saudi Arabia will seek to project a unified front against the US leader's suggested displacement of Palestinians, the initiative faces a number of major hurdles, with disagreements over matters such as Palestinian governance of the enclave, security, and the future of Hamas.

Tents in front of a ruined high-rise building in Gaza City on Feb. 24. Photographer: Youssef Alzanoun/AFP/Getty Images

After Trump froze foreign aid and started dismantling the US Agency for International Development, a Feb. 28 memo by a senior USAID official shows top diplomat Marco Rubio's waiver for "life-saving" help wasn't possible due to bureaucracy.

The Pentagon denied media reports that US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered a halt in offensive cyber operations against Russia, a source says.

Rwanda wants Britain to pay it £50 million ($63.5 million) over an abandoned migrant-deportation plan, after the UK censured the East African nation for supporting rebels fighting in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo.

Myanmar military chief Min Aung Hlaing is meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow today as the junta turns to a major international backer to aid in its ongoing conflict with ethnic armed groups.

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Chart of the Day

European stock benchmarks hit fresh record highs after a pledge by EU leaders to boost military spending. Rheinmetall, one of Europe's biggest suppliers of material for land forces, has gained more than 90% this year and is up over 11-fold since the Russian invasion of Ukraine started three years ago.

And Finally

Brazil erupted Sunday night when the movie I'm Still Here became the first Oscar winner in its history — in the middle of Carnival celebrations, no less. But the triumph of the film that details a woman's fight with the Brazilian dictatorship over the disappearance of her husband in the 1970s also hit a nerve in the nation of 210 million people. The motion picture, based on a 2015 memoir by a son of the movie's subjects, was always likely to split opinion in Brazil, where efforts to fully reckon with the 1964 coup that established a brutal military regime have for decades proved controversial.