French-language rules become flashpoint in Canada-US trade talks

Canada’s French-language protections—bilingual labeling, Canadian-content requirements for streaming, and Quebec’s strict language laws—have become a flashpoint in a stalled Canada–U.S. trade dispute. Washington argues some measures act as trade barriers, while Ottawa defends bilingual rights as central to national identity. With U.S. tariffs on roughly $20 billion of Canadian goods looming, Trudeau/Carney (per the piece) say they won’t concede on French protections, and Quebec’s politics heighten the stakes as debates over Bill 96, the Online Streaming Act, and Bill 109 illustrate how language policy intersects with trade and digital regulation.