Canadian Support for Counter-Tariffs Dips as Trump Trade War Persists
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Canadians continue to support retaliating against US President Donald Trump’s wave of tariffs, but their fervor has waned as the trade war wears on.
Seven in 10 Canadians still favor counter-tariffs even if they increase the cost of goods imported from the US, according to a poll conducted by Nanos Research Group for Bloomberg News. That’s down from almost eight in 10 in January.
Sentiment has also shifted, with the percentage of those who “somewhat support” the measures rising to 29% from 24% at the beginning of the year. Nearly 44% of respondents expressed unqualified support for retaliatory levies, down from 55%.
“Further uncertainty and new tariffs on Canadian goods by the US will reinforce appetite for a Canadian tariff response,” said Nik Nanos, the polling firm’s founder.
Atlantic Canada was the region that most favored counter-tariffs, with 81% expressing some form of support. The Prairies expressed the least support (67%).
The Prairie provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta recently said they would resume buying and distributing American alcohol to retailers, months after they halted purchases in response to Trump’s tariffs. US booze remains banned from government-store shelves in many other provinces, including Ontario.
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government scaled back its retaliatory tariffs in April, leaving about 70% of its counter-measures in place. That means Canada currently has 25% levies on about C$42 billion ($31 billion) in imports from the US, plus some tariffs on automobiles.
Carney held off on retaliating further in response to Trump’s doubling of tariffs on steel and aluminum last week. The prime minister has said he sees progress in trade talks between the US and Canada, but new counter-measures remain an option.
Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem said last week that the levies aren’t yet having a significant impact on prices. “The retaliatory tariffs put in place, that is not yet in the consumer price index data that we have,” Macklem said. “You will see that start to come in the months ahead.”
The latest Nanos survey of 1,120 Canadians was conducted by phone and online between June 1 and 3. It’s considered accurate within 2.9 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.