As the clock ticks down on the start of the 2025 budget season, spare a thought for Canada’s beleaguered finance ministers.

Toiling at their desks in Ottawa and the provincial capitals, they are struggling to develop realistic fiscal and economic projections amid the whirlwind of chaos unleashed by U.S. President Donald Trump. Every day seemingly brings new pronouncements from the White House that pose fresh risks to the economic outlook and foster more uncertainty for budget planners and business decision-makers.

Among other things, President Trump has threatened a barrage of tariffs on American imports from allies and adversaries alike, with initial tariffs already applied to China and soon-to-hit steel and aluminum exports to the U.S.—including those from Canada.

In fact, Canada is squarely in “tariff man’s” line of fire. We are the second-biggest supplier of U.S. imports and run a modest surplus on bilateral trade in goods and services combined. Worryingly, we rely on the U.S. market for an........

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