Break in talks comes as Trump escalates trade war with Canada and threatens its sovereignty<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The United States has paused negotiations with Canada<\/a> on a key water-sharing treaty as Donald Trump<\/a> continues both his threats to annex his northern neighbour and to upend major agreements governing relations between the two counties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n British Columbia\u2019s energy ministry said officials south of the border were \u201cconducting a broad review\u201d of the Columbia River Treaty, the 61-year-old pact that governs transnational flood control, power generation and water<\/a> supply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The sprawling Columbia River, which originates in south-eastern British Columbia and terminates in the Pacific Ocean on the Oregon-Washington border, is one of the largest watersheds on the continent. The immense volume of water that moves along its 1,200-mile (1,900km) route produces roughly 40% of US hydroelectric power and nearly half<\/a> the hydropower in BC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The treaty first came into effect in 1964, after devastating floods nearly two decades before that destroyed Oregon\u2019s second-largest city<\/a> and swaths of southern British Columbia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Under the terms of the agreement, Canada<\/a> must control the flow of the Columbia River through its network of dams to ensure US hydropower generators receive enough water and to prevent flooding. Those benefits are worth roughly $200m (C$288m) annually for the province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For its part, the US must also give Canada half the additional potential hydroelectric power produced by dams, which it sells at market rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Under former president Joe Biden<\/a>, the two countries reached an in-principle deal on a new version of the decades-old treaty in July, ahead of the September expiration deadline of the treaty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite a concerted push on both sides to finalize a deal before Trump took office, however, the final details of the treaty remain unfinished, with only a three-year interim agreement in place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In recent weeks, Trump has taken an increasingly combative stance towards Canada, calling its border \u201cimaginary\u201d, musing about inflicting \u201chistoric financial devastation\u201d on a longtime ally and threatening to tear up the myriad treaties between the two countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n