A Canadian clothing line, Jackpine, has launched T-shirts and hats of Lake Ontario shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to rename Lake Ontario to Lake America amid the ongoing trade dispute between the two countries.
The Ottawa-based company, owned by Liam Mooney and his wife Emma Cochrane, received about 100 orders on its official website for the caps in response to the U.S, government’s move to rename Lake Ontario.
The clothing line is also preparing to release more of the merchandise due to an increase in public demand.
In 2025, Jackpine designed ‘Canada is not for sale’ hats after Mr Trump insisted on merging Canada with the U.S. as its 51st state, picking out the popular look of the ‘Make America Great Again’ hats. The hats sold thousands since their release.
Mr Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to rename the landmark, which is the smallest lake out of the five North American lakes and covers about 7,340 square miles.
The development comes after trade negotiations between the U.S. and Canada broke down.
According to the president, the U.S. has been treated badly by the Canadian government in trade, which led to the country’s measure of imposing extra per cent tariff on several Canadian goods.
Canada’s Prime Minister, Mark Carney, in a statement, rejected the lake renaming, saying that it signifies over 400 years of the country’s history and Canadians would continue to use the name.
“The name Lake Ontario comes from the Wendat word Ontari’io, which, appropriately, means “the lake is beautiful, the lake is big.”
The name is more than 400 years old, predating both the Confederation of Canada and the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America,
“We know that America is changing. Their trading relationships, their foreign policies, their national monuments, their hydronyms. Canadians also know that naming reality means calling it Lake Ontario – then, now and always,” Mr Carney said.
In retaliation, Canada announced new counter tariffs of 25 and 50 per cent on several U.S. products, including consumer goods, machinery and equipment, and other imports from the U.S. listed by the Canadian government.
