Canada's premiers react to U.S. trade war with calls for unity and economic support

Trade talks collapse, tariffs take effect

U.S. President Donald Trump's new 50 per cent tariffs on a wide range of Canadian goods went into effect Saturday, after trade negotiations broke down late Friday night. The tariffs target Canadian exports worth billions of dollars, including gold, silver, imitation jewelry, hockey sticks, honey, essential oils, dairy, wine, cement, clothing and other products.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada walked away from the talks after the U.S. made "last-minute changes" to a proposed deal that were "unfair, uneconomic and called into question the reliability of any deal." He pledged to match Washington's tariffs dollar-for-dollar starting Sept. 8, targeting sectors such as steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper and electronics.

"They asked too much and they offered too little," Carney said, adding that Canada would support affected businesses "beyond the life of this U.S. administration."

Premiers urge buy-local, show unity

Several premiers across Canada responded by calling for economic solidarity and support for local businesses.

In Eastern Canada, premiers from Quebec, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island urged residents to buy products made in Canada and in their home provinces.

"Every dollar spent on an Island or Canadian product supports the worker who made it, the farmer who grew it, the fisher who caught it, the producer who processed it and the business that put it on the shelf," said Rob Lantz, premier of P.E.I., in a news release Sunday.

New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt said the U.S. tariffs have hit businesses and workers in her province, and called on New Brunswickers to "double down on buying local."

Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette said the tariffs will affect about $7.7 billion of Quebec's exports. She told reporters that if each family in the province bought $25 worth of local products each week, the spinoff effects would inject about $3 billion back into the economy. "To buy Quebec products is not an economic action, it is a nationalistic action," she said, according to reports.

British Columbia Premier David Eby said B.C. "will stand strong with Canada" and that everything is on the table for the province's participation in the response to "unfair" American tariffs. He called the idea of returning American alcohol to B.C. liquor stores at this time "absurd," and linked the ban to U.S. treatment of Canadian forestry, saying even Russian forest products have better U.S. market access than Canadian.

Eby also said U.S. demands to limit Canada's trade with other partners would reduce Canada to "the economic equivalent of the 51st state." He declined to rule out measures such as restricting electricity exports, saying every possible tool and weapon is on the table.

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said after a virtual meeting with premiers and Carney that there is a strong sense of unity, and his government backs Canada's retaliatory measures. "All Canadians are united in the pride that we feel for our country, and the disappointment we feel for Donald Trump and his administration," Kinew said.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who had been silent for days, applauded Carney's decision to walk away, saying Trump cannot be trusted. "President Trump is the type of person that would steal your lunch money the first day, he'd steal the toque off your head the second day, and the third day he'd steal your running shoes," Ford told reporters. He called on premiers to stick together as Team Canada, saying "We can't have an outlier."

B.C. Conservative Leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay called the breakdown "a serious blow" and "an economic emergency," urging the premier to recall the legislature. Eby made no promise to do so, but an emergency cabinet meeting was scheduled for Saturday afternoon.

Business owners on both sides brace for impact

Small business owners in both countries are bracing for significant fallout.

Cindy Baldassi, who runs the Calgary-based jewelry company CindyLouWho2, said about 75 per cent of her sales come from American buyers. With most of her items now facing a 50 per cent tariff, she expects to lose at least half of her business. "It's quite likely that it will wipe out most of my US sales," she told the BBC. "I expect that at least half of my business will be gone." She suspended U.S. sales over the weekend, saying a $35 pair of earrings would cost American customers an extra $17.50.

Michael Saifer, general manager of Lind Furniture in Ontario, said sales dropped when tariffs were first threatened."As soon as there were tariffs in the air, people put purchases on hold," he said. "I don't know that we're going to win a war with them; we may get killed."

Matteo Sgaramella, founder of Toronto-based menswear brand Outclass, said his pre-orders could face an additional 50 per cent logistics bill from UPS. "Big business can always find a way... but small businesses are going to get smashed by this," he said.

On the U.S. side, Mike Roach and Kim Osgood of Paloma Clothing in Portland, Oregon, said their best-selling pillows would rise from $59 to $86-$90 with tariffs, and they may hold the price because the change came overnight. Bill Easton of Terre Rouge Wines in California said he has been unable to ship wine to Canada for about a year and a half due to an alcohol boycott, paying $2,400 a month in storage. Heather Seevers of Northwest Yarns in Bellingham, Washington, reported Canadian customers down about 20 per cent due to anti-Canadian rhetoric, saying "it's going to get worse before it gets better."

Structural exposure and outlook

The U.S. tariffs apply to about $20 billion (C$28 billion) worth of Canadian exports — roughly 5 per cent of what Canada ships to the U.S. annually. Canada sends about 70 per cent of its exports to the U.S.

British Columbia faces the highest exposure of any province, with wood and paper products alone representing more than 13 per cent of its exports to the U.S. Provincial data shows 51 per cent of B.C.'s exports in 2025 went to the U.S., down from 54 per cent in 2023.

Vancouver Island Sea Salt owner Scott Gibson said about 20 per cent of his revenue comes from the U.S., and he has increased stock levels there as a buffer. "We will be affected if this lasts over the next several months," he said.

Calgary Chamber of Commerce said the tariffs could affect nearly 100,000 jobs, and echoed Carney's view that "no deal is better than a bad deal." Opposition critics have called for more transparency on negotiations.

Some premiers, including Alberta's Danielle Smith, have expressed caution about cheering retaliatory measures, noting farmers may face 50 per cent higher equipment costs. Saskatchewan's Scott Moe said all tariffs hurt businesses and jobs on both sides.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told CNBC that the two sides were close to a deal Tuesday night but Canadians "wanted more" in the last hours.

As the new tariffs take hold, business groups like the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade called for keeping communication open, reducing internal trade barriers and diversifying markets. The B.C. Federation of Labour urged prioritizing workers over corporate balance sheets.