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Canada’s trade negotiations with the United States have failed. Washington has imposed 50% tariffs on approximately $28 billion worth of Canadian products, and Prime Minister Mark Carney has promised a dollar-for-dollar response beginning Sept. 8.

CHARLEBOIS: Ottawa’s tariff trap — don’t weaponize the grocery bill Back to video

Retaliation may be politically inevitable. But Ottawa must proceed very carefully. In attempting to punish Washington, Canada could easily end up punishing Canadian families at the grocery store.

Tariffs are taxes. Full stop.

A Canadian counter-tariff is collected from the Canadian company importing the American product. The exporter may absorb some of the cost, but importers, distributors and retailers will inevitably pass part of it along. Grocery margins are already thin.

Eventually, the cost appears at the checkout.

We learned that lesson in 2025, when the Trudeau government imposed 25% counter-tariffs on a remarkably broad range of American products. The list included orange juice, peanut butter, coffee, tea, chocolate, rice, pasta, fruit, vegetables, poultry, dairy products, cooking oils, sauces and soups.

It was political theatre masquerading as food policy.

A subsequent Bank of Canada study found that prices for tariffed goods increased by approximately 6% relative to comparable untariffed products. For tariffed food and beverages, the increase........

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