The US Department of Justice antitrust division was ordered this week to suspend
all cooperation with the Canadian government, an internal email from Linda
Marshall, head of international affairs, instructed staff to stop collaborating
with Canadian counterparts on cases and policy matters; no reason was given.
Such directives are unusual; US and Canadian competition agencies have long
coordinated on auto-parts price-fixing, air-cargo probes and tech and aerospace
M&A reviews. The pause comes amid rising US-Canada trade tensions after talks
collapsed last month and the Trump administration imposed 50% tariffs on $20bn
of Canadian goods; Canada responded with similar duties on some US products. The
DOJ and the White House declined to comment.
