Against the backdrop of an inconsistent US tariff policy and ongoing annexation threats, Canadian and US officials discussed the ongoing trade war in a high-stakes meeting on March 13.

The Varsity spoke to students and faculty to see how the tariffs have affected them and their thoughts on the US–Canada meeting. 

Tariffs and counter-tariffs timeline

On March 4, US President Donald Trump imposed a 25 per cent tariff on most Canadian goods. Trump justified this move by claiming that the tariffs would force Canada to address the issues of illegal immigration and fentanyl flowing into the US. 

The tariff went into effect but was modified on March 5, when Trump granted a one-month exemption for Canadian goods essential to the US “Big 3” automakers — Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis — due to worries that the trade war could crush domestic car manufacturing.

As a retaliatory measure, Ottawa announced a 25 per cent counter-tariff on $30 billion worth of goods coming from the US.

On March 10, ​​the Ontario government announced another 25 per cent surcharge on all electricity exports to the US. In response, Trump threatened to raise the tariff rate on steel and aluminum from 25 to 50 per cent, but later reversed course after Canada confirmed it wouldn’t proceed with its electricity tariff. 

However, on March 13, Canadian officials retaliated with an additional set of counter-tariffs targeting $29.8 billion worth of US goods.

Meanwhile, the US stock market went into freefall this week, suggesting a lack of confidence in a president who’s been called a “master negotiator” by his Secretary of Energy Chris Wright.

As things currently stand, America’s 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum are in effect and 25 per cent tariffs on all Canadian imports are scheduled to go into effect on April 2. 

Despite this, Canadians are uncertain about Canada’s economic future due to Trump’s unpredictable leadership style. The CBC questioned in a video on Trump’s tariff threats whether the chaotic roll-out “[is] a lack of planning or an intentional strategy?”

Melissa Arasin — a fourth-year PhD candidate in curriculum, teaching, and learning at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education and a dual citizen with the US and Canada — wrote in an email to The Varsity, “I worry about further retaliatory responses from a leader who seems to delight in creating chaos and doing harm, and has been largely unchecked in doing so.”

Second-year economics student Christian Pasquali thought that Trump was “doing this at least in part for his own entertainment,” in an email to The Varsity. 

Pasquali wrote that while he is usually a critic of former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Doug Ford, he approved of this retaliation, and that he thinks both leaders are “doing a very good job in fighting the trade war.”

In an email to The Varsity, U of T Associate Professor of Economics Joseph Steinberg — who had previously expressed concerns with the US–Canada tariffs in January — reiterated his position. “These measures are counterproductive and primarily harm Canadians rather than Americans.” 

Calling retaliatory tariffs “taxes on Canadian consumers,” Steinberg explained that these effects will be felt strongly by Canadians, “given Canada’s small size and greater reliance on trade [with the US].” 

Instead of retaliation, “Canada needs to be aggressive [in] seeking new trade partners outside of North America,” Steinberg contended. “We should be reducing trade barriers, not raising them!” 

Conscious consumers

As part of the larger nationwide “buy Canadian” trend, U of T students say the tariffs have made them more conscious consumers.

“The last few meals I bought on campus were from Canadian producers rather than American ones,” Pasquali wrote. “I personally believe that it is very important for Canadians to support Canadian businesses to make up for their lost revenue from American consumers.”

Arasin wrote that she is “making a conscious effort to support Canadian businesses by buying Canadian products and shopping as local as [she] can.” She added, “I’m also boycotting [US] companies that don’t share my values.”

In a separate email to The Varsity, Steinberg noted two benefits of this newfound economic consciousness: “This boosts the fortunes of Canadian companies that are seeing reduced exports to the US and helps consumers avoid paying the retaliatory tariffs we have levied on imports.” 

Still, he added that these “substitution patterns,” while helping to mitigate the costs of tariffs, do not remove the costs entirely. 

Annexation threats

Inextricably linked to Trump’s tariffs are his repeated threats to annex Canada, claiming that the country will be added as the 51st state. In the March 13 meeting in the Oval Office, Trump said that Canada “only works as a state” and would become “a great and cherished state —  keeping O Canada the national anthem.”

While this threat was initially perceived as a joke, Canadian officials and citizens are beginning to take Trump’s threat against Canada’s sovereignty more seriously. Talking to the BBC, Canada’s Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said she’s taking the threat “very seriously,” adding that “this is not a joke anymore.”

For students like Arasin, the escalating tariffs and rhetoric seem like calculated moves to weaken Canada’s autonomy. “I’m afraid tensions will only escalate,” Arasin wrote. “It’s hard for Canada to call the [US] an ally when the goals of the current administration might include an attempt to economically devastate the country in preparation for an eventual attempted takeover.”

Amid the onslaught of the US’ actions, Arasin notes to both Canadian and US citizens caught in the crossfire, “We are not enemies, but we sure are being made to be at our own expense.”