The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday, March 13, edition that the Bank of Canada cut its key interest rate for the seventh time, lowering it by a quarter-point to 2.75 per cent. The Globe's Mark Rendell writes that Governor Tiff Macklem warned Canadians to prepare for an economic downturn due to the trade war with the U.S., which is impacting consumer and business confidence. He emphasized that while the central bank will respond to the situation, it must also focus on rising inflation. That is a clear signal the central bank does not intend to cut interest rates as fast or as deeply as it has in past emergencies. Mr. Macklem said after the rate announcement: "A tariff war will weaken economic activity in Canada, but it will also boost prices and inflation, and what we can't let happen is we can't let a tariff problem become an inflation problem. The interest-rate response is not going to look like COVID, it's not going to look like 2008. We signalled today that we're going to have to proceed carefully with any further changes in interest rates." Tariffs and the threat of them are weighing on Canadians, according to a survey conducted by the BOC last month and published Wednesday.