Framing the “Trade War”

This study examines how Fox News and CTV News presented the 2025 tariffs on Canadian imports by US President Donald Trump. Using Entman’s four framing functions and Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis (CDA), the article explores how each media outlet defined the trade conflict, attributed causality, rendered moral judgments, and suggested policy responses. Drawing from fifty-two articles from Fox News and fifty-two articles from CTV News published between January 20 and April 30, 2025, the research employed a qualitative comparative research design that integrates framing analysis with textual-level CDA. This dual-method approach enabled the identification of both surface-level narrative structures and deeper ideological mechanisms embedded in discourse. The findings reveal two sharply divergent media narratives. Fox News framed the tariffs as a moral defense against a national security threat, emphasizing American sovereignty, victimhood, and executive resolve. CTV News portrayed the tariffs as politically motivated and economically harmful, and emphasized diplomatic norms, institutional responses, and measured retaliation. The study contributes to the literature by demonstrating how media framing not only shapes public understanding of trade conflicts but also reinforces divergent national identities, political ideologies, and economic nationalism.