The Latest: Canada strikes back at US with retaliatory tariffs as trade war escalates

Canada struck back at the United States on Tuesday with retaliatory tariffs on about $20 billion worth of American goods , including steel, dairy products, appliances and farm equipment, as the trade war between the once-friendly neighbors escalated sharply.

U.S. Sen. Darline Graham won the Republican nomination to replace her late brother, Lindsey Graham, on South Carolina’s general election ballot, notching another win for President Donald Trump after he threw his support behind the political novice.

Justice Department attorneys are arguing that if Trump’s name does not appear somewhere on the Kennedy Center, then the money from donors for renovations would shrivel up and the cultural center may be “required to be taken down.” This came from a court filing late Monday on the long-running saga over whether the president’s name can be added to the venue.

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Three U.S. Secret Service officials were placed on administrative leave Tuesday, pending the outcome of an investigation by the agency’s professional standards office.

The three were operating in non-law-enforcement capacities and were being investigated for potential misconduct, the agency’s public information office reported. However, the cause for the action remained unclear as the Office of Professional Responsibility was beginning its review.

The Secret Service has been under scrutiny as Trump has been the subject of at least three assassination plots in the past two years. In April, police said an armed man breached security at the Washington Hilton during the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, which Trump was attending.

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Justice Department attorneys argued that if Trump’s name does not appear somewhere on the Kennedy Center, then the money from donors for renovations would shrivel up and the “decrepit, dilapidated” cultural center may be “required to be taken down.”

That came from a court filing late Monday on the long-running saga over whether the president’s name can be added to the cultural institution and venue meant to honor John F. Kennedy after his assassination. The original attempt to add “Donald J. Trump” on the building’s facade was halted by the court in May following a lawsuit from Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty, an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center.

The center’s Trump-aligned board of trustees then voted again this month to get the president’s name back on the cultural institution in a different way: by appending “Renovated and Restored By President Donald J. Trump” under the title on the building’s facade. Another phrase, “Endowed by the Trump Kennedy Center Fund” would be a possible addition, as well as renaming the plaza in front of the Kennedy Center to honor the president.

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U.S. Sen. Darline Graham won the Republican nomination to replace her late brother on South Carolina’s general election ballot, notching another win for President Donald Trump after he threw his support behind the political novice.

Graham defeated U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman in Tuesday’s special Republican primary runoff, two weeks after they were the top two finishers in a 10-way primary.

Despite being a political unknown, Graham bested some of South Carolina’s top political names in the special election spun up after Lindsey Graham’s sudden death last month . She was appointed by Gov. Henry McMaster to serve out the remaining months of her late brother’s current term and swiftly won an endorsement from Trump, who encouraged her to enter the race for a full term and campaigned for her in the state last week.

Graham will face Democratic nominee Annie Andrews in November.

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Canada struck back at the United States on Tuesday with retaliatory tariffs on about $20 billion worth of American goods, including steel, dairy products, appliances and farm equipment, as the trade war between the once-friendly neighbors escalated sharply.

The confrontation threatened one of the world’s largest trading relationships and further strained ties between the United States and a country long considered one of its closest allies. A prolonged dispute could raise costs for American businesses and consumers less than 2½ months before the midterm elections.

The new tariffs extended well beyond industrial goods, hitting everyday purchases such as seafood, cheese, clothing, cosmetics and toilet paper, with some facing duties as high as 50%.

“We did not choose this conflict, but when our economic integration is used as a weapon rather than the foundation for a win-win partnership, we need to stand up,” Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said in French, calling the situation “an unprecedented challenge imposed on Canada.”

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