Overview
- Internal emails from the Justice Department's antitrust division instructed staff to stop work with Canadian authorities and then corrected that directive the same day, according to reporting of the messages.
- The department’s spokeswoman said the initial message reflected a misunderstanding about rescheduling a meeting, attributing the order to a misread instruction.
- The Justice Department separately issued a public statement calling the press characterization of the episode false, creating two competing official accounts of what was directed internally.
- The antitrust division has resumed cooperation with Canadian counterparts, and a follow-up internal request sought lists of active U.S.-Canada enforcement ties to clarify ongoing collaboration.
- The pause occurred against recent trade tensions between Washington and Ottawa and could slow or complicate joint probes into cross-border mergers and cartels if trust in information sharing weakens.