Trump has singled out us Canadians for special treatment in his tariff war – there is no choice but to get nasty
Though many hate to admit it, Canadians have long wished for more attention from the US. Well, we’re getting it now. And it turns out that President Trump and some of his top supporters in the Maga movement don’t much like us.
The first big hint was when he started talking about annexing us, saying we couldn’t survive without American support. But the most recent example of Trump’s dislike for Canada can be seen in his latest tariff policies. Canada was largely spared the impact of his “Liberation Day” tariffs in April 2025 by its pre-existing free trade deal with the US (and Mexico), but earlier this month, as expected, the US declined to extend that deal for another 16-year term. It’s now subject to annual renegotiations. Then, last week, the White House announced tariffs as high as 50% on a selection of Canadian products including, for the first time, items previously protected by the trade agreement. The US called it retaliation for Canadian trade practices.
It’s true that the US announced tariffs against dozens more countries just days later, but there has been something odd about the lopsided attention paid to Canada, which most US presidents tend to politely ignore. Most of the tariffs Trump recently announced were in the range of about 10%, but Canada was hit by 50% tariffs (albeit on a narrower range of exports). The president, it seems, wanted to send a message to Canada, but without hurting US consumers too much.
The tariffs also land differently here, given Trump’s stated........
