The Justice Department is suddenly in the middle of a bigger cross-border fight, after reports claimed its antitrust division was told to stop working with Canadian officials while Washington and Ottawa clash over tariffs and Trump’s aggressive trade posture. The dispute has only grown sharper as both governments trade tough talk, retaliatory threats, and symbolic shots that keep the pressure high.
According to emails cited by The Wall Street Journal, Lynda Marshall, who leads the antitrust division’s international section, told staff on Wednesday to stop cooperation on cases and policy discussions with Canadian authorities. Section chiefs were then told to hand over lists of where cooperation with Canada existed, adding another layer of tension to an already uneasy relationship.
The reported pause immediately raised eyebrows because the antitrust division often works on issues that cross national borders. When those channels get cut off or even slowed down, it can signal that political friction is starting to spill into regular government business.
The DOJ, though, pushed back hard on the story. In its statement, the department said the “alleged direction was never given to anyone.”
It added that the division had only been asked to “temporarily hold off on a scheduled meeting on a specific investigation until the DOJ’s antitrust team had more time to prepare,” which paints a much narrower picture than a full freeze. That distinction matters, especially when the situation is already loaded with trade anger and public posturing.
The timing is impossible to ignore. The U.S. and Canada have spent decades as close allies, but that relationship has taken a beating since Trump returned to the White House and turned up the heat on trade.
Tariffs have already landed on tens of billions of dollars in cross-border goods, and both sides are digging in. Canada has made clear it plans to answer Washington’s moves with its own pain, which is never a great sign when two neighbors are supposed to be partners first and rivals second.
Trump’s latest jab, the executive order renaming Lake Ontario to “Lake America” for federal use, only sharpened the mood. Even if the rename does not force Canada or other bodies to follow along, the message was plain enough: the White House is willing to turn a trade fight into a symbol fight, too.
That kind of move plays well in a hardball political climate, but it also keeps relations simmering. When symbolic flare-ups are stacked on top of tariffs, agency disputes, and public criticism, even routine cooperation can start to look like a casualty.
Canada has already signaled it will impose retaliatory tariffs beginning Sept. 8, responding to the Trump administration’s new 50% tariffs on roughly $20 billion worth of Canadian goods. Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada “will match Washington’s new tariffs dollar for dollar in order to protect Canadian workers, farmers, families, and businesses.”
That line makes the stakes easy to see. This is no longer just about one agency memo or one postponed meeting, but about two governments testing how far they want to push before the damage starts cutting into the broader relationship.
