Google Maps Now Displays 'Lake America' for US Users Amid Trump-Canada Trade Dispute
Google Maps has begun displaying 'Lake America' for users in the United States after President Donald Trump signed an executive order renaming Lake Ontario amid a trade dispute with Canada. The lake is located between Ontario and New York, and the name change was floated by Trump earlier last week, who said the U.S. did not expect to do much business with Ontario any longer.
The change follows Google's long-standing policy for bodies of water with names that vary from country to country. Users in Canada will continue to see 'Lake Ontario', while users outside the U.S. and Canada will see both names, with 'Lake America' appearing in parentheses.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said after Trump signed the executive order last week that 'New York won't be calling it that.' The move comes as the Trump administration's trade dispute with Canada intensifies, with the U.S. imposing 50% tariffs on $20 billion in Canadian goods and Canada announcing retaliatory tariffs of up to 50% on billions of dollars in U.S. goods.