Why are we in a trade war with Canada, exactly? What was Canada’s alleged transgression?

In the latest episode of Receipts, Sam and I discussed how Trump has lost the plot on the whole Canada tariffs thing, which this week transmogrified into an all-out ban on importing certain Canadian goods. Roughly $1 billion of Canadian-made motorcycles, alcohol, and dairy are now barred from entry into the United States, for no discernible reason. Contrary to Trump’s claims, these hissy fits are hurting U.S. exporters, including the dairy industry he says he wants to help.

We also talked about the latest on Trump’s definitely forthcoming $5,000 checks, and how the “dividend” he promised to deliver if Republicans retain control of Congress is polling with the American public. (Not as well as you’d think!) Meanwhile, on the affordability front, the Trump administration has decided to relax fuel-economy standards in the middle of an energy price spike.

Finally, Sam was eager to discuss rumors that Sydney Sweeney may be contemplating conversion to Judaism. How might that affect her market value as an increasingly controversial spokesperson?

Check out the latest episode of my Receipts podcast on the site, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

And if you haven’t already, please subscribe to the podcast feed for Receipts With Catherine Rampell wherever you get your podcasts. It really helps us get in front of new audiences. Thanks, and let us know what topics you want JVL and me to cover later this week in the live show.