Two of the world's most historically intertwined economies now find themselves in an accelerating cycle of restriction and retaliation, as the United States formally bans Canadian spirits, dairy, and motorbikes while Canada answers with tariffs of its own on American steel, clothing, and furniture. What began as a trade dispute has grown into something that touches national identity itself — from threatened aircraft manufacturers to the symbolic renaming of shared waters. Both governments speak of wanting resolution, yet no talks are scheduled, and the distance between rhetoric and diplomacy c