Hangama Amiri’s The Other Home (2024) at the Toronto Biennial in 2024. Courtesy of the Toronto Biennial of Art

Following a series of tense, on-again/off-again negotiations between the United States and Canada, President Donald J. Trump officially enacted the trade law that would impose hefty tariffs on most imports from Canada. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded immediately with retaliatory measures, introducing 25 percent tariffs on $30 billion worth of U.S. goods, with plans to expand that figure to $125 billion. Two days later, on March 6, Trump appeared to reverse course, suggesting a delay in implementing the Canadian tariffs. But as of today, March 12, they remain in place, and tensions are escalating by the hour. Ontario has introduced a 25 percent surcharge on electricity exports to U.S. states, including Minnesota, Michigan and New York, while Trump has threatened to double the tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum imports to 50 percent in retaliation.

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The U.S. tariffs apply broadly to most Canadian imports—including artwork such as paintings, sculptures and other creative productions—disrupting the flow of cross-border art transactions and placing substantial pressure on the Canadian art market at large. When Observer spoke with Simon Cole, founder of COOPER COLE—one of Canada’s leading contemporary art galleries, based in Toronto—he shared that they’re considering temporarily withdrawing from participating in U.S. fairs. “We may focus our attention on fairs in Europe or elsewhere in the world for the time being. To be honest, I feel a little put off by spending any business and tourist dollars in the U.S. at the moment, especially in states like Florida where local politics already seem to work in opposition to the gallery’s ethics and humanity in general.”

In its more than fourteen years of operation, COOPER COLE has positioned itself as an international gallery championing both Canadian and global artists, many of whom are based in the U.S. “We have built fantastic and long-standing relationships with American artists, collectors, curators, galleries and museums,” Cole says. “COOPER COLE has always strived to exhibit and promote Canadian artists abroad while offering international artists a platform to exhibit their work in Canada, often for the first time.”

Cole remains confident, however, that the gallery will continue inviting American artists to exhibit. “They are a fundamental part of our community,” he says. Still, he........

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