Your World Tonight - U.S./China tariff “reset”, cabinet speculation, Alberta separatism, and more

Episode Date: May 12, 2025

U.S. President Donald Trump says he has achieved a “reset” with China – a 90-day pause on extreme tariffs and countertariffs. It’s not clear yet how quickly the temporary agreement will affect trade. And: Sources say Prime Minister Mark Carney plans to have a more scaled-down cabinet, compared to the three dozen ministers in Justin Trudeau’s. The cabinet will be sworn in tomorrow. Also: "Do you agree that the province of Alberta shall become a sovereign country and cease to be a province of Canada?" An Alberta separatist group is trying to get enough people to say “yes” to that question. The goal is to force a referendum on it – as early as this year. Plus: Hamas has released American-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander, the ceasefire holds between India and Pakistan, access to your medical records may not be as secure as you think, some conferences are shifting from the U.S. to Canada because of fears of travel to the States, and more 

How did the internet go from this? You could actually find what you were looking for right away, bound to this. I feel like I'm in hell. Spoiler alert, it was not an accident. I'm Cory Doctorow, host of Who Broke the Internet from CBC's Understood. In this four-part series, I'm going to tell you

why the internet sucks now, whose fault it is, and my plan to fix it. Find Who Broke the Internet on whatever terrible app you get your podcasts. This is a CBC Podcast. We're not looking to hurt China. China was being hurt very badly. They were closing up factories, they were having a lot of unrest, and they were very happy to be able to do something with us. Two economic superpowers take one big step back. With their runaway trade war and triple-digit tariffs threatening to upend both countries' economies, the

United States and China agreed to dramatic de-escalation. The catch? It's only temporary. Welcome to Your World Tonight. I'm Susan Bonner. It's Monday, May 12th, coming up on 6pm Eastern, also on the podcast. Expect that there's going to be quite a lot of change in this cabinet, many new faces. This is the ministry he intends to lead Canada with for at least

the next couple of years. So these decisions matter a lot. A smaller, leaner cabinet to confront some big problems. Federal ministers will be sworn in tomorrow after campaigning as the right leader to guide Canada through a cross-border crisis. Mark Carney is getting ready to pick the team to help him do it. Even with each country slashing the tax by 115 percentage points, there is still a 30% tariff on Chinese exports to the U.S. and 10% on U.S. goods going the other way. It's a major climb down, bringing relief in both countries and around the world.

But the clock is already ticking on a temporary truce. Paul Hunter has the latest from Washington. We have reached an agreement. An agreement, said U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Besant after a weekend of talks in Geneva, albeit a temporary one between the US and China, pausing, in a way, the US-instigated trade war between the two economic superpowers. US demands remain in place and are unresolved, though the biggest tariffs have now been reduced in both directions for 90 days, three months in which to get into the nitty-gritty of those US demands.

We would like to see China open to more US goods. We do want trade, we want more balanced trade and I think that both sides are committed to achieving that. The U.S. agrees to reduce its extra tariffs on China from 145 percent to 30 percent. China will similarly drop its matching tariffs from 125 percent to 10 percent. We achieved a total reset with China. U.S. President Donald Trump, who says he may speak with China's president later this week, underlining this morning other U.S. tariffs remain in place, for example. It doesn't include tariffs on cars, steel, aluminum, things such as that, or tariffs

that may be imposed on pharmaceuticals. China, meanwhile, called the weekend talks candid, in-depth, and constructive, with substantial progress. We actually have a fresh start with China. Kevin Hassett, director of Trump's National Economic Council, suggesting he expects real results will follow. This is obviously two days' work, and there's 90 days' more work to do to make sure that we land the plane.

But you know, the plane is right there over the runway. I don't think that there's much hope of people who think that this is going to go back. This is absolutely a sound deal. Immediate reaction on Wall Street signaled the markets don't disagree, surging on the news that a full-on US-China trade war may be averted. But still the question, in the topsy-turvy, on-again-off-again world of Trump's tariffs, where does this go from here? Did Trump blink when China stood its ground? And even if trade now picks up between

the two, ending the cargo slowdowns at US ports that had threatened emptying US store shelves, how will a mere 30% tariff on Chinese goods affect US prices? But the biggest question of all, will it begin all over again if there's no full deal by mid-August? Paul Hunter, CBC News, Washington. The US trade war defined his election campaign and it will influence the makeup of Mark Carney's new cabinet.

The Prime Minister is unveiling his team tomorrow and Canadians will be watching for who makes the cut and what it says about where the government is headed. Kate McKenna reports. Ottawa is abuzz speculating about Prime Minister Mark Carney's new cabinet, who is in and maybe as importantly, who is in, and maybe as importantly, who is not. I think this is when he demonstrates the degree to which he can make really tough decisions. Former Deputy Prime Minister John Manley says there are lots of new Liberal MPs, but a limited

number of cabinet positions. He has signalled that he wants to keep it as a small cabinet. He's recruited some good people to run in the past election who probably expect to be in cabinet. That means there are some people that are there now that have had seats at the table that are pretty well known to Canadians who are not going to make the cut. The Prime Minister's office says half of the people tapped for cabinet will be new. Carney wants to reflect the change mandate he's been given. It'll be a small, focused cabinet expected to include two tiers of ministers,

including more junior secretaries of state who will have departmental support and some staff, but not full-blown ministries. It's a departure from the Trudeau cabinet, which got as large as 40 ministers. I think the fact is they want to see change. Goldie Hyder is the president of the Business Council of Canada. He says industry leaders have high expectations for the Prime Minister's cabinet, given Carney's background as a former governor of two central banks. Prime Minister Carney would know well of the importance of making sure

that we're not allowing our spending to get too far ahead of us because ultimately that results in taxes. So it's about confidence building. Some names floating around Ottawa's potential new cabinet faces include former Quebec finance minister Carlos Letao, former Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson and former CEO of Goldman Sachs Canada Tim Hodgson. Kearney has said that he will continue the Trudeau-era commitment of gender parity in cabinet but one noticeable difference between the past government and now,

there have been very few leaks ahead of this swearing in. Expect that there's going to be quite a lot of change in this cabinet. Marcy Serks is a past policy director for Justin Trudeau. This is the ministry he intends to lead Canada with for at least the next couple of years. So these decisions matter a lot. Kear Carney has signaled that his key priorities include making Canada's economy more resilient in the face of US President Donald Trump's tariff threats. Expect that theme to continue when ministers are sworn in tomorrow.

But Carney will also have to manage his caucus and the potential disappointment of both old hands and new faces who don't make the cut. Kate McKenna, CBC News, Ottawa. The final seat count in last month's federal election is still being determined and one riding could hang on a misprinted envelope. Radio-Canada has learned at least one voter in the Quebec riding of Thierry Bonn says her mail-in ballot was returned to her. Elections Canada confirms there was an error on the provided

envelope. A judicial recount had awarded the riding to the Liberals by one vote. The woman says she tried to vote for the Bloc. The results of three more recounts are still to come. Liberals currently have 170 seats. 172 is a majority government. Canadian unity was a major theme in the election but in Alberta today the exact opposite was again up for discussion. A group that wants the province to separate from Canada says they're gaining support. They've written a ballot question for a referendum and they could see that happening within a year's time. Paige Parsons reports.

A clear concise question leading to a clear unequivocal answer. In Calgary today Jeffrey Rath shared the separatist plans of his group the Alberta Prosperity Project. They want Albertans to vote in a referendum with this ballot question. Do you agree that the province of Alberta shall become a sovereign country and cease to be a province of Canada, yes or no? New legislation introduced by Alberta's

United Conservative Party government has paved the way for such a referendum. So far, Alberta Prosperity says it has gathered more than 200,000 online pledges from supporters. But to move ahead, those online pledges need to be formalized in a petition as signatures. They need at least a hundred and seventy seven thousand. Today the Assembly of First Nations said a separation would be illegitimate and unconstitutional without the consent of First Nations. The AFN is now calling on the federal government to revisit an

existing natural resource agreement with the Prairie provinces that First Nations were excluded from. That's why we have to wait for the process to play out. Meanwhile, Alberta Premier Daniel Smith says it's still too early to know how the effort to get separation on the ballot could play out and maintained that she's not a separatist herself. I support a sovereign Alberta within a united Canada and it's my job to see if we can get a new deal with Ottawa

so that I can convince more Albertans to feel the same. The premier also deferred questions about the legality of the proposed question and division it could create. So once again I think that those questions are for the various groups that are putting forward the referendum questions. University of Alberta law professor Eric Adams says Smith and her government have set complicated politics into motion.

All bets are off when you've got a constitutional question that is unfolding a government that does not seem to be in complete control of the narrative and serious international issues involving the United States of America that that Adams says Albertans need to understand. This is uncharted territory with many unknowns and could lead to acrimonious negotiations. There's no smooth transition when you're breaking up a country that is as durable as Canada has been. And a lot of things will get broken on the way out the door.

He says in the months to come Albertans need to be on guard against misinformation and promises without guarantees. Paige Parsons, CBC News, Edmonton. Coming up on the podcast, the US revs up its role in the Middle East as an Israeli-American hostage is released and the President visits the region. The fear and anger following the fragile ceasefire between India and Pakistan. Plus, Canada could scoop up conferences that had been planned for the U.S. but cancelled over the current political environment. The last American-Israeli hostage in Gaza is now back with his family.

Idan Alexander was released by Hamas today. The move comes as Donald Trump begins a tour of the Middle East. Chris Brown will be covering that visit and reports tonight from Saudi Arabia. As developments in this war go, the release of hostage and US citizen, Idan Alexander, was a modest one. Though for his loved ones gathered in Tel Aviv, including his mother, and hundreds of others in the city's hostages square, it was a euphoric moment. Top US negotiator Steve Witkoff flew to the border with Gaza to witness Alexander's moment

of freedom. But this was a deal that appeared to cut out Israel. The US mediated through Egypt and Qatar, leaving some Israeli hostage families incensed at their government. Yehuda Cohen's son Nimrod has been in captivity for more than a year and a half. We all know that Netanyahu is working on stalling and prolonging the war on the blood, on the blood of Israeli civilians and Israeli soldiers.

The UN says Israel's blockade of Gaza has left half a million people facing starvation. Relentless bombing has killed thousands since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas ended in March. Hamas has said it will only release the remaining 20 or so hostages if Israel permanently ends its attacks, which it won't agree to. Trump is heading to a region that badly wants the war over, but Saudi Arabia, his first stop, also wants US capital and know-how, and is treating his visit like a giant trade fair.

Saudi's so-called 2030 plan, championed by de facto leader Mohammed bin Salman, has seen dramatic change here as it tries to shift Western focus away from Saudi Arabia's poor human rights record and on to successes. Women now have vastly more freedoms and opportunities and there's been an immense building spree as the oil behemoth attempts to diversify its economy. The biggest success is the change that we are seeing in society. The return to moderate Islam. Arab news editor Faisal Abbas says Saudi's leadership prizes regional stability, and as long as the war in Gaza rages, there is none.

My personal hope is that the U.S. will make a decision or take some actions that will help end this conflict because it is now the single thing that is derailing progress in the whole region." Israel's government is taking some of the credit for Alexander's release because of its renewed pressure and attacks on Hamas. Israel has now also agreed to send its negotiators to Qatar, which could make for a dramatic few days as Donald Trump will be heading there after concluding his business in Saudi Arabia. Chris Brown, CBC News, in Riyadh.

A ceasefire between India and Pakistan finally appears to be holding. In both countries, airports are back up and running, stocks are rallying and displaced residents are returning home or in some cases, what's left of it. South Asia correspondent Salima Shoojee reports. Two days after the fragile ceasefire began, an uneasy calm in one of the hardest hit towns in Indian controlled Kashmir. People slowly returning to Bhunch staring at signs of the conflict everywhere. Shards of metal that splintered off artillery fire embedded into doors and shattered window panes.

It was 5 o'clock. One of them fell, the other one fell. My home was badly damaged, this man says. All we want is to live in peace. On the Pakistani side of the line of control, the de facto border dividing Kashmir, many are picking through piles of rubble, all that remains of homes abandoned in haste. Khala Khan never left. His family hunkered down in a bunker that he's ready to use again. in a bunker that he's ready to use again. We hid here from the shelling, he says, it's fully stopped if the ceasefire falls apart.

That's a distinct fear for many here, used to the decades-long acrimonious battle between India and Pakistan for control of Kashmir. The latest flare-up lasted four intense days, filled with drone strikes and heavy shelling. The clashes triggered by a deadly attack on tourists that India blames on terrorists, it says, are backed by Pakistan, a claim Islamabad denies. Each side quickly claimed victory over the weekend, Fervour and cheers in Pakistan with newspaper headlines praising the country's brave, glorious sons. In India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to his nation

with strong words for New Delhi's rival. Terror and talks can't go together. This is only a pause on military action, Modi says. We'll wait and see what Islamabad does. It was U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio as he helped broker the ceasefire, who also floated the idea of broad negotiations on the Kashmir dispute sometime soon. But that's clearly not on India's agenda. And it's not the only unresolved issue.

A crucial water-sharing treaty between the two countries is still suspended. Pakistan downstream desperately needs the water for farming and hydropower. But India is hinting it will take a hard line. it will take a hard line. And the fragile truce won't bring back the dozens lost in the violent clashes. This new widow is inconsolable. Her husband Zakir was killed in a flash of artillery fire in Indian-controlled Kashmir as he rushed his daughters to safety. The toll of the brief conflict hard to comprehend for so many.

Salima Shivji, CBC News, Mumbai. Turkey's president is calling it a new era. The Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, says it will lay down its weapons permanently. The PKK has been fighting for decades for rights for Kurds in Turkey. The fighting has spilled into Syria and Iraq. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he believes the decision to disband should include members there. This is Your World Tonight from CBC News. If you want to make sure you stay up to

date and never miss one of our episodes, follow us on Spotify, Apple, wherever you get your podcasts. Just find the follow button and lock us in. It's personal medical data being sold off by private health care clinics. And although names and other identifying details are removed, a new study is raising questions about the practice and has some calling for tougher privacy laws. Alison Northcott reports. It's definitely not what we're signing up for. Outside of Toronto pharmacy Cameron Gonzalves says medical data is personal and should never be for

sale. When I go to the doctor's office I don't expect my private data to be given to private companies for monetary gain. When you go to the doctor you're sharing some of the most personal information you have. Details about your health, medical history and prescriptions all end up in your medical record. But a new study found in some cases private companies are accessing parts of that data and selling it. This is really an area where we need transparency, we need oversight. Dr. Cheryl Spidoff at Toronto's Women's College Hospital looked at how some for-profit clinics give outside companies access to data with identifying information like names and birth dates removed. Those companies then take that data and analyze it for or sell it to the pharmaceutical industry.

In other cases, Spitoff says the company accessing the data also owns the clinic, giving them even more links to patient information. One way or the other, these data uses don't align with how patients want their data to be used. The study's findings suggest these practices could give the pharmaceutical industry more influence over patient care. And that worries Matthew Herter, Director of the Health Justice Institute at Dalhousie University in Halifax. There's potential then for this information not just to be used to pick up on things that may help patients but actually drive patient care in directions that serve the bottom lines of the pharmaceutical companies that are paying

for this information. There are health privacy laws in Canada, but Laurieann Hardcastle with the Faculty of Law and the Cummings School of Medicine at the University of Calgary says they need to be strengthened as the health care system adopts more electronic health records often managed by private companies. Data being managed not on paper but by third-party entities really demands that policymakers rethink this legislation that was created decades ago when it was still paper records

sitting in a doctor's office. In a statement, the Office of Ontario's Information and Privacy Commissioner said health information custodians have to take reasonable steps to ensure data is protected and said more accountability is needed around how some health data is used and sold. Back outside the pharmacy some like Carolyn Mill say it's all troubling. It's not their property it's mine and I think that it was never meant to be sold and it shouldn't be sold. For patients wondering what happens with their data

experts say ask your doctor so you can be as informed as possible. Alison Northcott, CBC News, Montreal. Viewer Canadians are choosing to travel to the U.S. That's according to Statistics Canada figures for April. For the fourth month in a row the number of Canadian resident return trips from the U.S. showed a decline of 31% compared to April 2024. Americans are also opting not to visit Canada. In April the number of US resident car trips to Canada fell by more than 10%. This was the third consecutive month of year-over-year

declines. That slump in cross-border travel is also affecting the conference circuit. With many Canadian professionals reluctant to go to the U.S., organizers are shifting gears and instead bringing the conferences here. Sophia Harris explains. My plan is to avoid, you know, all unnecessary travel to the United States under these circumstances. When US President Donald Trump took office in January, sociologist Travers, who goes by one name, knew they would not be attending an upcoming conference in Seattle for the sociology of sport,

even though Travers is president-elect of the organization hosting it. As a trans person, I no longer feel safe entering the U.S. It wasn't long before many other Canadian members reported they too wouldn't travel to the U.S. Reasons include Trump's tariffs, his threats to annex Canada, and increased border scrutiny. It was a real sense of violation. Sociologist Nathan Coleman Lamb also won't be going. He says in March, on his way to South Carolina for a conference, a US Customs officer interrogated him at the Montreal airport and searched his luggage, wallet and phone.

To be subject to these kind of searches and the seemingly arbitrary authority of basically police officers in these spaces, it's beyond disquieting, you know, it's frightening. To address the travel problem, Traverse and fellow organizers added a second tandem co-conference in Vancouver. If we were to just hold the conference in Seattle, it would be significantly under attended. CBC News has also identified other organizations with Canadian contingents,

which recently relocated their entire upcoming conferences from the U.S. to Canada. And in one case, organizers of a joint American-Canadian pathologist conference next year chose Montreal. And there are concerns about the implications of traveling to the United States. Jason Karam Chandani is president of the Canadian Association of Pathologists, the conference's Canadian contingent. In light of some of the rhetoric coming out of the White House and the United States, it would be very unpalatable for many of our members to go to America.

This will definitely be a boost to our economy. I think we're going to see meetings that we've never held in Canada come to Canada. Heather Dow manages conferences for non-profits. She says if conference organizers continue to set their sights on Canada, it could be an economic boon. If you think of a conference that might have 300 participants, that could be a boost into the economy of $500,000 or $600,000 or more. U.S. Customs and Border Protection told CBC News

all foreign arrivals are subject to inspection and that lawful travelers have nothing to fear. Sophia Harris, CBC News, Toronto. We end tonight on the shores of Lake Huron, a 19th century shipwreck and the seven-year-old boy who found it. Archaeologists are now digging up a large chunk of the beach at Point Farms Provincial Park near Godrich, Ontario. But two years ago, this stretch of sandy shoreline was still intact and Lucas Acheson was there with his new metal detector that he got for his birthday.

So we were on the beach, we got our metal detector out, as soon as we set it up, ding! Oh, it's a spike! Maybe we can pull it out, Dad. So we kept digging, we found wood attached to it, kept digging again. Then Dad told me, Lucas, this is a shipwreck. When I woke up that morning, I did not expect to find a shipwreck.

Lucas and his dad unearthed enough to know it find a shipwreck. Lucas and his dad unearthed enough to know it was a shipwreck. Park officials then got in touch with the local Heritage Authority. It took two years but this week the group finally got permission for a larger excavation and Lucas, who's now nine, returned to the site. And what started with some beeps on his metal detector is now a carefully excavated pit, several meters long, exposing the frame of a ship more than a century old. Pretty cool to see all of them.

When last time we dug it, you could only see 30 percent of it. It's amazing. The archaeological team has a general idea of the ship's age based on its design, but they are still trying to confirm its identity. There's a good chance though it's the St. Anthony, a schooner headed from Chicago to Buffalo loaded with grain. It ran ashore in that area in October of 1856. Thank you for joining us.

This has been Your World Tonight for Monday, May 12th. I'm Susan Bonner. Talk to you again. MUSIC For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca slash podcasts.