Justin Trudeau Fights Trump’s Tariffs 🇺🇸🇨🇦 Learn English with the News

In this lesson, you're going  to learn English with the news.

We're going to read a news article together  so you can learn advanced vocabulary,  

advanced grammar and correct pronunciation.

Welcome back to JForrest English.

Of course, I'm Jennifer.

Now let's get started.

Our headline Elbows up, how Canadians are  fighting back against Trump's tariffs.

Do you know what this means here?

Elbows up.

Well, of course this is your elbow.

So there's an expression if your elbows are up, it  means you're in a position to prepare for a fight.

We use this also more metaphorically.

If you're going into a meeting and you expect  that meeting will be tense or have some arguments,  

you might say to your Co worker elbows up when  you're renegotiating your contract for example.

So it's saying prepare for a fight or  prepare to be defensive or defend yourself.

And you can see that context here  because they use the word fighting back.

Now notice you have this  additional preposition because  

you fight back against something or someone.

So the article headline could  say Trudeau on the left here,  

Canada's Prime Minister Trudeau is fighting  back against Trump because that's a someone.

But in this case, it's a  something, Trump's tariffs.

So the focus is on the tariffs.

And of course, to fight back against someone or  something means to resist, to oppose or to defend.

Now you can also just use the verb  fight and say Canada or Canadians or  

Trudeau is fighting and then something or someone.

So in this case, you could say  the tariffs imposed by the US.

So it is possible just to use the verb fight.

Don't worry about taking these notes.

I summarize everything in a free lesson PDF.

You can find the link in the description.

Now let's continue with the article replacing  Californian tomatoes with Italian tomatoes.

Ohio made pepperoni with meats  produced in Ontario and Quebec.

Ontario is where I'm from.

Coca-Cola with sparkling water  sweetened with Canadian Maple syrup.

Do you notice anything about  these sentences in this paragraph?

So this is a paragraph and  then this is a sentence.

But what do you notice about  every sentence in this paragraph?

They're incomplete sentences, which  means they're grammatically incorrect.

Technically, however, they are  written this way because they're  

providing examples of how Canada is fighting back.

So if you read the headline and  then you immediately read this part,  

you understand the full sentence, even  though this alone is grammatically incorrect.

To turn this fragment into a full  sentence, you could add for example,  

Canadians are fighting back by now.

This preposition by requires the gerund verb  so that grammatically matches this gerund tier  

by replacing replacing California tomatoes  with a Italian tomatoes and then instead  

of a period you could have a; To keep going  and then it would be grammatically correct.

Now notice also how I have against  the tariffs in parentheses.

You can just use fight back without  the additional preposition against  

if you do not specify the someone or something.

So if you just say Canadians are fighting back by  

replacing Californian tomatoes with  Italian tomatoes, that's correct.

But as soon as you add the tariffs,  now this is grammatically incorrect.

Fighting back the tariffs, no fighting  back, back against the tariffs because  

you included the something or you could include  the someone to practice this sentence structure.

You could say something poetic or something that  

inspires confidence like  I'm fighting back against.

Now you have a something my fear of  speaking and how are you doing it by and  

now you need your Jaron by improving  my English fluency with Jennifer.

Does that statement inspire you and motivate  you get your elbows up against your fear.

Well, if it does fight yes, yes, yes, but  yes, yes, yes, fight back against that fear.

I'm here to help you.

But yes, yes, yes, in the comments.

Let's keep going.

At the end of January, U.S.

President Donald Trump ramped  up threats to annex Canada.

Did you hear about this?

To annex Canada?

That's where the president proposed that Canada  

would become a state rather  than its own distinct country.

So that's what it means by annex Canada  and wreck its economy with tariffs.

What do you know about what do you notice about  the pronunciation of this word wreck, wreck.

So that W is silent, just like right to right.

But you're right.

So the same thing that WR you just hear  the R wreck wreck and the verb wreck to  

wreck means to severely damage or destroy.

You could say my car was wrecked to be wrecked.

My car was wrecked in the crash.

Your car is extremely damaged is destroyed.

It's not usable, it's beyond repair was wrecked.

We also use this to describe things  as in a state of ruin or disaster.

For example, a parent could  walk into their teenagers room,  

their child's room, and say your room is a wreck.

So this describes it as a state of ruin.

So you can imagine it's extremely messy.

Or you could even say the project is a  wreck to say it's not going very well,  

it's a disaster, a state of ruin.

But notice the important difference here.

Because I have a wreck, so it's being used  as a noun, a disaster, a state of ruin.

The project is a wreck, but you could  also say you wrecked the project.

So this is saying you destroyed the project.

So maybe you made a mistake, a critical  mistake, and it ruined the project.

You wrecked the project.

So in this case it's a verb.

You conjugate the verb, in  this case the past, simple.

But here, notice it's a noun.

Now let's look at ramped up.

Notice that pronunciation ramped.

Because P is a voiced sound.

This Ed is pronounced as a soft T,  Ramped, ramped, ramped up, ramped up.

And then when you say it with the preposition up,  

you're not going to hear that T too much  because we don't want to create a pause.

So repeat after me ramped up, ramped up.

So to ramp up something, in this  case threats, means to increase  

the intensity or volume of  thinking about your English.

You could say I need to ramp  up, increase the intensity,  

amount or speed I need to ramp up my  studying if I want to pass the IELTS.

Are you enjoying this lesson?

If you are, then I want to tell you  about the Finally Fluent Academy.

This is my premium training program where  we study native English speakers from TV,  

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Now, let's continue with our lesson.

An unfamiliar emotion has been brewing  in normally polite Canada Anger.

Now, maybe you're not  familiar with this expression,  

but can you understand the  meaning based on context?

And that's a great thing to do when  you're not sure of what something means.

Try to guess.

Try to guess what A replacement  verb or replacement, whatever  

the part of speech is, depending on the context.

So has been brewing.

An unfamiliar emotion has been building up, has  been increasing in normally polite Canada anger.

So this emotion is normally not in Canada, is what  this article is saying, and it's been brewing.

So notice this use of the  present perfect continuous  

to say that the action started in  the past and continues until now.

So you can imagine this emotion anger,  it's been building, building, building,  

increasing, increasing,  increasing has been brewing.

You can use this with a  positive emotion, excitement.

Excitement has been brewing.

So has been increasing developing  or building up has been brewing.

So again the present perfect continuous to show  it started in the past and continues until now.

And then you could go on and say  as the party vacation or concert  

something that would produce the emotion  of excitement as the party approaches.

So this is the reason why  excitement has been brewing.

Let's continue.

Since Trump first threatened to  enact sweeping tariffs on Canadian  

imports and began referring to EU s s  northern neighbor as the 51st state.

So this is the reference to annexing Canada,  

where Canada would become part  of the US, the 51st state.

Now notice here we have this apostrophe to  show possession, but when I verbally say it,  

the US is because I have to add that  additional S to show the possession.

If I just say the US northern neighbor,  

it sounds incorrect because you need to hear  that US is that is to show the possession.

So it sounds like a very unstressed is  USSUSS northern neighbor as the 51st state.

Now let's look at this sweeping tariffs.

If something is described as sweeping,  it means it would cover everything.

So it sounds like the tariffs  would be on all Canadian products.

So sweeping tariffs.

Let's review this example the school is proposing.

So suggesting is proposing sweeping changes.

So that sounds like  

wide-ranging or far reaching or large in scope,  sweeping changes to how students are evaluated.

So let's continue here.

Animosity, animosity, animosity toward the US.

Do you know what animosity is?

It's a very negative emotion.

It means hostility, resentment, or ill  will, which just simply means negativity.

You could say animosity has been brewing as well.

Using that other expression we learned  animosity toward the US and its leader.

So being Trump has been mounting.

OK, so you could say here has been brewing  because mounting is the exact same thing  

now often in articles they don't  want to repeat the same word again.

This is why it's important  to learn synonyms because it  

will sound more advanced in speaking and writing.

So has been brewing, has  been mounting and you also  

have has been developing or has been building up.

So you now now know four different  ways to communicate this.

Let's continue.

Canadians have cancelled vacations South  of the border and loudly booed the Star  

Spangled Banner, the national anthem  of the United States at sports events.

So do you know what this means?

Loudly booed.

This is when you say Boo, Boo.

So you show your your animosity towards  something vocally by saying Boo Boo.

So they're actually using this  as a verb to Boo something,  

which means to show your lack of  satisfaction toward something.

Let's continue.

After months of warnings, Trump on Tuesday  slapped 25% tariffs on nearly all Canadian goods.

The verb to slap is to do that.

In this context, slapping  something on means to enforce it.

But just like a slap is very fast and  forceful, that's the meaning as well.

So to enforce tariffs, and they did  it quickly, quickly and forcefully.

So Trump on Tuesday slapped again because  we have this P, this pronunciation of Ed is  

a soft T, slapped 25% tariffs on nearly all  Canadian goods, sending markets plummeting.

So plummeting is quickly declining  or going down South sending markets  

plummeting and driving Canada  US relations to a new low.

Almost immediately Canadian leader Trudeau  responded with matching tariffs on $20.8 billion.

So notice when you say this 20  point point, $20.8 billion with  

an S billion dollars worth of American  goods with potentially more to come.

Just remember that S goes on dollars  and not on billion, billion dollars.

Let's continue.

Canadians are reasonable and we are polite,  but we will not back down from a fight.

So this is the reference of elbows up because  

if you back down it means you  retreat so you do not respond.

So your elbows would not go up, but if you do  not back down from a fight, it means you respond.

So that reference to elbows  up in a defensive position.

And of course that is figuratively.

They're not actually talking about  fighting each other physically.

Now notice here you also have that additional  

preposition from if you specify  the noun, in this case a fight.

But just like we saw with fight  back, if you don't specify the noun,  

the someone or something, you don't  need that additional preposition.

So you could say we will not  back down, we will fight back.

So if you specify the noun, it will be we will  not back down from a fight, we will fight back.

What was the preposition here?

If it were tariffs, what's that preposition?

Fight back against tariffs.

Now I wrote ah, but there is no AH  because tariffs is plural and you  

do not use AH with a plural, so against tariffs.

So this would be optional.

You would only use against if  you included the noun tariffs.

And here you could say from a fight, we will not,  

we will fight back against  tariffs, so let's continue.

But we will not back down from a  fight, not when our country and  

the well-being of everyone in it  is at stake, Trudeau said Tuesday.

So notice this at stake, so here, he said.

Our country and the well-being  of everyone in it is at stake.

This at stake means at risk.

So at risk of being lost.

The country is at risk of being lost if the US  is serious about wanting to annex Canada, and the  

well-being of everyone is at risk of being lost  if these high tariffs are slapped onto Canada.

You might say my job is at stake if I  don't improve my communication skills.

So here to be at stake.

So my job is at risk of being lost.

So it's another way of saying I could lose my  job if I don't improve my communication skills.

Don't worry, don't worry.

That's why I'm here to help.

Trump said he told Trudeau on Wednesday  on a Wednesday telephone call.

OK, so if it were just on  Wednesday like I first read it,  

then you would not use ah, you  could just say on Wednesday.

But here Wednesday tells you  information about the telephone call.

So it functions as an adjective.

So on a telephone call, on  a Wednesday telephone call.

So you could say my boss  told me the news on Monday.

So on plus day of the week on Monday, or you  could say my boss told me the news on a call.

Now what type of a call?

A conference call, a Zoom call,  a telephone call, a Monday call.

So this gives information about the call.

So Trump said he told Trudeau on a Wednesday  telephone call that the Canadian leader,  

Trudeau, hadn't done enough to  curb fentanyl crossing the border.

So fentanyl is a drug and to curb means to  to prevent the drug from crossing the border,  

to stop the drug from crossing the border.

So this is a verb to curb something  and you curb something negative.

For example, how can we curb cheating?

So notice if you have a now a  verb, it will be in the ING form.

It functions as the gerund.

How can we curb cheating now that  everyone has access to ChatGPT?

Or you might, you might want to Curb  Your spending on unnecessary things.

So again, it's always something that you view as.

Negative.

So Trump feels that Trudeau hadn't done  enough to curb fentanyl crossing the border.

So going from Canada into the US,  

despite the minuscule amount that arrives  in the US from its northern neighbor.

So here the minuscule amount means that only  

a very small amount of this drug  travels from Canada to the USA.

Very small, minuscule.

Minuscule is a powerful word because  it doesn't just mean extremely small,  

it also implies that it's insignificant.

So the the amount is so small, it's  not important, it's insignificant.

So you could say I tried to curb my spending,  so limit, reduce, or stop my spending.

But remember you view this as a negative thing,  

so you're spending on things  that you view are unnecessary.

I tried to curb my spending,  but the results were minuscule.

So the results were so small,  

they were insignificant on the  total amount of money you spend.

Let's continue.

Later in the week, the US president  announced brief reprieves from the tariffs.

For automakers.

A reprieve is a stop or a delay.

Now, because they said a  brief reprieve, it's a delay.

A permanent reprieve could mean  a stop and it's a stop or delay.

But this word is only used with something negative  

such as a punishment or just  any other negative action.

So a brief reprieves from the tariffs for  automakers and for goods that fall under.

So if something falls under a category, it means  it's included in that category that falls under.

And in this case, the category is the  United States, Mexico, Canada Agreement,  

which was formerly called NAFTA, the  North American Free Trade Agreement,  

but now it's called the United  States Mexico Canada Agreement.

So goods that fall under are  included in this agreement.

The phrasal verb to fall under is very  commonly used with policies or departments.

Anything that has classified  classification or categories,  

for example, all future exams fall  under our new policy to curb cheating.

So there's this new policy and there are  provisions to prevent, stop, limit cheating.

And all future exams are subject  to so fall under are included in.

But the current exams or  past exams do not fall under.

So they're not subject to,  they're not included in.

Let's continue.

But for many, the two months of back and forth  

with Trump on tariffs have  irreparably damaged ties.

So notice how I pronounce this  back and forth, back and forth.

When you have this, and you can just  pronounce it as a back and back and forth,  

but you must pronounce it as one word  in order for that to sound correct.

Back and forth, back and back  and forth, back and forth.

And if you go back and forth, it means one  minute you say yes, tariffs, the next day,  

no tariffs, 25 percent, 10%,  all products, some products.

So you're constantly changing your mind,  

which can of course 'cause confusion  and even cause tension to brew to brew.

Now you can use this in any situation.

We went back and forth on where to go on vacation.

So you changed your mind.

One minute it's France, Italy, and  then you're constantly changing your  

mind of where to go so you can  go back and forth on something.

Let's review this example.

The directors went back and forth.

So the verb is to go to go, and  this is conjugated in the past,  

simple to go back and forth  on how to curb cheating.

So they had frequent discussions,  debates, and changes in decisions.

Now notice here the two months of back and forth.

This functions as a noun, which  is why you don't see the verb go.

You could say, but for many, Trump  going back and forth for two months.

So you could say it in another  way to use the verb form,  

because if you use the verb, you need to use go.

But in this case, it's a noun.

The two months of something of back and forth with  Trump on terrorists have irreparably damaged ties.

Irreparably is a strong adverb.

It means that it cannot be fixed,  and in this case the IT is the ties.

So the relationship between Canada and the  US cannot be fixed, repaired or undone.

That's the meaning of irreparably damaged ties.

And that's the end of the article.

So what I'll do now is I'll read  the article from start to finish,  

and this time you can focus on my pronunciation.

Elbows up.

How Canadians are fighting back against Trump's  

tariffs replacing Californian  tomatoes with Italian tomatoes.

Ohio made pepperoni with meats  produced in Ontario and Quebec.

Coca-Cola with sparkling water  sweetened with Canadian Maple syrup.

At the end of January, U.S.

President Donald Trump ramped up threats to  annex Canada and wreck its economy with tariffs.

An unfamiliar emotion has been brewing  in normally polite Canada anger since  

Trump first threatened to enact  sweeping tariffs on Canadian  

imports and began referring to EU s s  northern neighbor as the 51st state.

Animosity toward the US and  its leader has been mounting.

Canadians have cancelled vacations South of the  

border and loudly booed the Star  Spangled Banner at sports events.

After months of warnings, Trump on Tuesday  slapped 25% tariffs on nearly all Canadian goods,  

sending markets plummeting and driving  Canada US relations to a new low.

Almost immediately, Canadian leader  Trudeau responded with matching tariffs  

on $20.8 billion worth of American  goods, with potentially more to come.

Canadians are reasonable and we are polite,  but we will not back down from a fight,  

not when our country and the well-being of  everyone in it is at stake, Trudeau said Tuesday.

Trump said he told Trudeau on  a Wednesday telephone call that  

the Canadian leader hadn't done enough  to curb fentanyl crossing the border,  

despite the minuscule amount that arrives  in the US from its northern neighbor.

Later in the week, the US president  announced brief reprieves from the  

tariffs for automakers and for goods that fall  under the United States Mexico Canada Agreement.

But for many, the two months of back  and forth with Trump on tariffs have  

irreparably damaged ties.

Do you want to keep learning  English with the news?

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