Technology company Google has updated its maps to reflect President Donald Trump’s executive order changing Lake Ontario to Lake America amid the trade war between the United States and Canada. 

In a statement on Saturday, Google said the decision followed an update made by the United States Geographic Names Information System to formally reflect the proclamation signed by Mr Trump directing the renaming of the lake located between the border of the United States and Canada. 

“The U.S. Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) has formally changed the name for “Lake Ontario” to “Lake America” in the United States. 

“Since we update Google Maps to reflect name changes in official government sources, which is GNIS for the U.S., people using Maps in the U.S. will see “Lake America,” the company said. 

The relationship between the United States and Canada hit a new low last week after Ottawa pulled out of tariffs negotiations with Washington, with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney describing the Trump administration’s demand as “unfair”.

Subsequently, Mr Carney announced a series of retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods, vowing that Canada would match the Trump administration’s tariffs dollar for dollar, a move that angered Mr Trump.

Meanwhile, Google said the change would not affect map users in Canada, as they would continue to see Lake Ontario, while users outside Canada and the U.S. would see both names.

 “Those in Canada will continue to see “Lake Ontario,” and those outside of the U.S. and Canada will see both names. These updates follow our long-standing policy for bodies of water with names that vary from country to country, and are starting to roll out now,” the company added.