The United States and Canada are negotiating President Trump’s 25% tariff proposal on Canadian steel and aluminum imports. The tariffs haven’t started yet, but some Canadians are processing the possibility of higher prices every day.
“People that live in Canada now can’t afford to travel anywhere outside Canada because our money is almost useless,” said Canadian resident, Vance Lyons.
And there are differing opinions on whether Trump will go through with his threats.
“I don’t think it will happen” said Paul Dutton, who lives in Canada. “So I think it’s just the threats, and I’m not fearful.” But others are angry. “I think it’s foolish on his half. I think it’s stupid. I think he’s an idiot,” said Lyons.
It’s not just everyday people that are worried. Businesses are already hurting over concerns with tariffs. Products are getting stuck at the border and orders between the countries are coming to a halt.
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“Our American distributors have been unable to take possession of the goods that they ordered from us.” said Rahim Moloo, owner of Conquest Steel in Toronto. “We’re focusing on trying to redistribute some of that inventory that was from the U.S. to the Canadian market and provided to the Canadian market at a little bit of a cheaper price.”
Business is slowing down, so Moloo is cutting business hours.
“We’ve had to shut down our night shift and roll them into the day shift temporarily,” said Moloo.
Moloo says some Canadian distributors have put a hold on taking new American orders. President Trump says Americans won’t experience the pain of tariffs for long, but the CEO of the Toronto Region Board of Trade says the U.S. is making a good profit off Canada without more tariffs.
“I think they’re really hard to understand in the sense that we obviously, you know, were neighboring countries. Our economies are very tightly integrated. The U.S., as you know, has $500 billion of investment in Canada,” said Giles Gherson, CEO of the Toronto Region Board of Trade.
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During President Trump’s first term he imposed similar tariffs, but granted exemptions. This time around, Trump says no exemptions, and Canadian leaders are fighting back.
“If it comes to that our response will be firm and clear,” said Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada.
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The U.S. imported over $7 billion worth of steel from Canada last year, according to the U.S. International Trade Administration. Canada will impose 25% tariffs on $155 billion worth of goods if Trump goes ahead with this.
“What have we done to deserve this? And what have American leaders done to deserve it, either because you’re going to see, you know, potentially massive shutdowns in the U.S. auto sector and other sectors because of this,” said Gherson.
As of now, the tariffs are slated to take effect on March 12.
“We can be friends. Not enemies,” said Joanne Tea, a Canadian resident.
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