Canadians have cancelled trips south of the border, boycotted U.S. alcohol and other products and even booed at sporting events after U.S. President Donald Trump announced 25 per cent tariffs on most of Canada’s goods on Saturday.
Though Trump had pledged to put tariffs on Canada and Mexico before taking office, the perceived act of economic warfare on a country that is so close to the United States culturally and geographically still came as a shock to many Canadians.
“It feels like Trump wants to restructure the world order,” Drew Dilkens, mayor of the Canadian border city of Windsor, said in an interview. “He’s willing to start with his closest ally… If he’s willing to do this to Canada, what’s he willing to do to everybody else?”
Dilkens said about C$400 million ($272 million) in trade crosses the Ambassador Bridge linking Detroit and Windsor every day. For his 240,000-person community, the fallout from Trump’s tariffs will be immediate. He hopes residents will support local wineries and distilleries.
Calgary resident Ken Lima-Coelho said the tariff news spurred a surge of Canadian pride in his household. His 19-year-old son is now making plans to sew a small Canadian flag to his backpack for an upcoming trip to Europe, while his daughter spent Saturday night making an inventory of Canadian food products in the family’s kitchen.
