Toronto – Victor Meunier shopped groceries at a supermarket near him another afternoon, reached for a broccoli – and rethinked. It is imported from the United States.
Meunier abandoned the broccoli and reached for a pack of mushrooms with different labels: “Product from Canada.”
It was a small part of resistance to the Trump administration, and a sudden rise in the long-term alliance between the two countries.
Since taking office last month, President Trump has turned Canada into a punch-punch bag that threatens the high tariffs on his goods, while insisting he is serious when he says he wants to annex the country to make it the “51st state” of the United States.
Trump said of Canadians a few days ago: “They will be much better.” He added that Canada is “not feasible” without U.S. trade.
President Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke at a NATO meeting in England in 2019.
(Frank Ogstein/AP)
Angry at a speech from a country that should be their closest friend, usually mild Canadians have been canceling beach trips in Florida, booing the U.S. national anthem while playing before the NHL and NBA games, and boycotting everything made in the U.S., including Netflix and produce.
Boycott is gradually growing with the support of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other leaders. Shoppers across the country are abandoning California-grown fruits and vegetables in favor of local fares, and bar customers are swapping Kentucky bourbon for Canadian rye.
“Trump is causing a lot of trouble,” said another shopper Mary Brock. “I want to do my best. ”
President Trump is “inducing a lot of trouble,” Canadian shopper Mary Brock avoids American products. “I want to do my best.”
(Denis Calnan / Times)
Trump announced tariffs on all imported steel and aluminum, a measure that would particularly hurt Canada’s measures, and tensions in the United States inspired a sense of betrayal and patriotism.
A poll by the Angus Reid Institute found that Canadians had a 10-point rate compared to two months ago. Nine out of 10 respondents said Canada should reduce its dependence on the United States.
Experts say the U.S. president’s aggression has helped unify a country, i.e., deep divisions over Trudeau’s leadership in recent months. It also inspires a soul search of what it means to be a Canadian.
One in five of the residents of this diverse country are immigrants or children of immigrants, and have always been proud of the person Trudeau once called the “post-nation” of a language, religion and culture.
But even if Canadians don’t always have a common vision about their attitudes, Trump’s controversy shows that they can reach a consensus on what they are not.
“Canadians don’t want to be American,” said Duane Bratt, a political scientist at the Royal University of Calgary. “We have a lot of connections with the United States, but we have a lot of differences. Healthcare policy. School shootings. We like not having that many guns.”
Signs of Trump are posted on a tree in Pittsburgh, New Hampshire, near the Canadian border.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Similar reflections occurred in other events, including the 1995 Quebec referendum, when Canadians gathered to make the province part of the federal government and the country’s decision to participate in the 2003 U.S.-led Iraqi invasion.
But Trump feels different to many Canadians. While many people initially wondered if his tariff threat was a bluff, his suggestion was that the United States was a joke to absorb Canada, people increasingly took him seriously and had to take him seriously.
Trudeau recently told a group of business leaders that he thinks Trump’s talk about Canada is “a real thing” because the president is eager for Canadian minerals. It also relate to what Trump calls a desire to capture the Panama Canal and Greenland, possibly using military power.
“This is an external threat that I think most Canadians will feel or see,” said Howard Ramos, a political sociologist at Western Ontario University.
A few days after Trump was elected as a second term in November, he said he would order a 25% tariff on all goods in Canada and Mexico – a penalty because these countries have not yet made enough efforts to fight fentanyl smuggling or illegal immigration.
Trudeau took a step back and said less than 1% of Canadian immigrants entered the United States illegally. He vowed to retaliate against tariffs on U.S. goods, focusing on products from the Republican Congressional District.
He urged his fellow countrymen to stop drinking Florida orange juice, cancel summer vacations to the United States, and avoid products produced there. “It’s time to choose Canada,” the prime minister said. “There are many ways to get your role.”
But Trudeau also expresses a sense of fantasy here – after all, they don’t think the relationship with the United States looks like.
Canadians fought the war with Americans, he said. They sent aid to help Hurricane Katrina and the plane’s victims fight California wildfires.
“We’ve been there all the time, standing with you,” Trudeau said.
The prospect of a trade war is imminent until a few hours before the tariffs take effect on February 4. At the last minute, Trudeau and Trump reached an agreement: The Prime Minister agreed to a small amount of concessions to strengthen the Canadian-US border and the United States, and the president agreed to postpone the tariffs for 30 days.
The crisis has been temporarily avoided. But in Canada, things have changed. Purchase local event extensions, news organizations guide consumers how to read product tags. It is increasingly the feeling that Canadians have brought four years of surprise from a disrespectful and unpredictable American leader.
Those concerns were highlighted on Monday, when Trump announced that tariffs on steel and aluminum imports would be raised to 25%.
A production line worker at the Martinria plant in Woodbridge, Canada on February 3, 2025. This factory supplies auto parts to factories in Canada and the United States
(Chris Young/AP)
Canada is the main exporter of two metals. Canadian Steel Manufacturers Association. The proposed taxes “threatening employment and communities” nationwide.
Tensions in the new U.S. government are at a time of political fragility, and Canada is led by parties seeking new leaders.
Trudeau Recent records of immigration.
Whoever replaces him as Liberal leader will be the next prime minister. Soon after, the man will face a general election and face a huge challenge from the Conservative Party.
Experts say the election may be dominated by one question: Who can best fight back against Trump?
Politicians from all sides try to show themselves as defenders of Canadian sovereignty.
Mark Carney, a favorite to replace Trudeau as head of the Liberal Party, said Canada would not “get in” Trump: “We will stand up and bully.”
Ontario leader Doug Ford wore a hat and said “No sale in Canada.”
Agnus Reid Institute poll found that in recent years, the tariff threat has attracted more national attention than news events in recent years, rather than the 19-year-old pandemic. Dialogue on relations between the two countries has filtered into schools, workplaces and even drinking places.
Samia Saad, left, said she was saddened by President Trump’s aggression. “It shouldn’t be like this,” she said in Toronto. “We shouldn’t be enemies.”
(Denis Calnan / Times)
In a super bargaining cocktail and snack bar in downtown Toronto, bartender Daniel Sousa said there have been fewer orders for bourbon in recent weeks.
Samia Saad sat at the end of the bar and drank beer brewed in Canada. She has been avoiding U.S. products, but she said she hopes tensions between countries ease.
“It shouldn’t be like this,” she said. “We shouldn’t be enemies. It doesn’t make sense.”
Linthicum, a Toronto and Times employee from Mexico City, reported on Calnan’s special correspondent.
