President-elect Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods will harm US consumers

Melissa Thomas, Head of the Canada desk  said:

After winning the presidency this year, Donald Trump threatened a blanket 20% tariff on ‘all products’ entering the US from Canada. When he made a similar move during his first term in office, Canada responded with retaliatory tariffs of their own. It is easy to imagine history repeating itself, along with the inflation and increased costs the tariffs caused for the average American.

Many of the U.S. products Canada chose to put tariffs on in Donald Trump’s first term were chosen for their political rather than economic impact. Canada imported c$3 million worth of yogurt from the U.S. annually at that time and most came from one plant in Wisconsin, which was the home state of then-House Speaker Paul Ryan. Yoghurt was hit with a 10% duty.

Melissa said:

Another product on the 2018 list was whiskey, much of which originates from Tennessee and Kentucky, the latter of which is the home state of then-Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell.

As the current speaker of the house, Mike Johnson, is from Louisiana, the Canadian ‘yogurt trade war’ of Donald Trump’s last presidency could be replaced with a ‘soya trade war,’ soya beans being the largest export from Mike Johnson’s home state after natural gas.

However, the tariffs the President-elect is proposing not just on Canada, but Mexico and China will hurt far more than the average American’s ability to afford tofu or soy milk. They will increase prices of almost all goods imported into the US, and harm consumers across the board.

Would you like to know more?

If you would like to discuss any of the above, please speak to your usual Blick Rothenberg contact or Melissa Thomas using the form below.