Google Maps changes Lake Ontario to "Lake America" among US users

Google Maps has changed the name of Lake Ontario to "Lake America" for users in the United States, following an executive order signed by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Lake Ontario, one of the five Great Lakes of North America, straddles the U.S.-Canada border, with the Canadian province of Ontario to the north and the U.S. state of New York to the south.

Trump on Thursday signed an executive order directing the Department of the Interior to rename Lake Ontario "Lake America," as trade tensions between the United States and Canada continue to escalate.

American users will see "Lake America" on the map, while Canadian users will still see Lake Ontario.

This marks the second time Trump has challenged the longstanding name of an international body of water and unilaterally renamed it for U.S. use.

On Jan 20, 2025, the first day of his second term, Trump signed an executive order directing the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America," a move that drew opposition from Mexico and others.

Mexico has filed a legal lawsuit against Google in May for labeling the Gulf of Mexico as "Gulf of America," arguing that the move violates Mexican territory's sovereignty and international recognition.

Google Maps changes Lake Ontario to "Lake America" among US users

The value of preferential certificates of origin issued by China's national trade promotion system reached 10.924 billion U.S. dollars in July, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) announced on Monday.

Its spokeswoman Yang Fan said at a press conference in Beijing that the value marks a year-on-year increase of 24.77 percent. In July 2026, the national trade promotion system issued a total of 736,400 certificates of various types including certificates of origin, Admission Temporaire/Temporary Admission (ATA) Carnets and commercial certificates.

Among them, the certified value of non-preferential certificates of origin stood at 32.332 billion U.S. dollars, up 7.38 percent year on year.

Meanwhile, RCEP certificates of origin reached a certified value of 873 million U.S. dollars, reflecting a year-on-year growth of 16.81 percent.

"The certified value and number of preferential certificates of origin issued by the national trade promotion system have maintained a steady growth, reflecting that China's high-level opening-up policy continue to unleash dividends, and that regional economic integration and trade facilitation have been effectively enhanced," said Yang.

Value of China's preferential certificates of origin surges 24.77 pct