It started with tariffs, but the trade war is quickly escalating beyond import taxes into a broader tit-for-tat battle. President Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on Canada offended leaders there to the point that Ontario fired back by yanking American booze from store shelves. Ontario Premier Doug Ford even threatened to slap a surcharge on or even pull the plug on electricity sent to three US states, raising the specter of power bill spikes or even blackouts. That angered Trump so much that he briefly vowed to hit all US imports of Canadian steel and aluminum with 50% tariffs, before cooler heads prevailed.

But on Thursday, Trump told reporters: “I’m not going to bend at all” on Canadian aluminum, steel and auto tariffs. His remarks came just hours ahead of a meeting between US and Canadian officials on trade. That meeting was “very, very productive,” Ford told reporters after it ended, adding that he felt that “the temperature is being lowered.” Ford said he plans to meet again with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick next week.

Meanwhile, Canada has requested consultation with the World Trade Organization (WTO) over US tariffs on steel and aluminum, the WTO said in a statement on Thursday. Canada claims the tariffs violate trade rules. It’s easy to see how this trade war can quickly get out of hand. If world leaders aren’t careful, they can get stuck in an escalatory cycle that’s hard to escape.

“This game has exploded into other areas,” said Mary Lovely, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. It’s not just the US-Canada trade fight. China responded to Trump’s initial 10% tariff hike in........

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