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Montreal, Canada – Canada has experienced a tumultuous beginning by 2025, such as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau declares its resignation New Year's Days, Federal Election and the country's accessibility crisis are deepening.
Canada now facing What some economists have called “their largest commercial shock in nearly 100 years.”
The United States President Donald Trump has threatened to impose a 25 percent tariffs on a wide range of Canadian imports and a 10 percent tariffs for Canadian energy.
While the measures had to start on Tuesday, Trudeau said on Monday afternoon that US tariffs and revenge measures announced by his government would be delayed with “at least 30 days” as the countries work together on border security.
However for many from all over the country the potential for trade war Among the long -standing allies, the feeling of anger continues to nourish, as well as anxiety and confusion about what is to come.
Trump's threat by Tariffs He has also raised questions about the nature of cross-border relations and calls on Canada's calls to strengthen trade in the country while looking beyond the United States as more reliable international partners.
“It is very, very disturbing for workers at the moment,” said Lana Payne, Unifor's national coordinator, the largest union in the private sector in Canada, “Al Jazeera told Al Jazeera before the slowdown of tariffs is announced.
“A lot of concerns, a lot of worries, a lot of uncertainty – they feel all this,” she said in a phone interview on Monday.
“But I would also say … At the moment they feel angry that the US will do this to the Canadian economy, they would do so to Canadian workers, given our long history of joint joint joint.”
Canada
The United States and Canada have enjoyed close political and trade relations for decades.
Last year, the United States exported over $ 322 million in Canada, according to US Counting DataS He also imported products worth over $ 377 million from his northern neighbor.
Nearly three -quarters of the total export of trade in Canada are going to the United States. The country is also the largest foreign energy supplier in the United States, with about 97 percent of Canadian raw oil exports south of the border in 2023.
But Trump, who routinely criticized Canada since he won re -election in November, has said Tariffs are needed to encourage the Canadian government to stop fentanyl traffic and irregular migration across its border with the United States.
He also claims that tariffs seek to compensate for the trade deficit with Canada, which he called “subsidy”.
“We pay hundreds of billions of dollars to subsidize Canada. Why? There is no reason. We don't need anything they have. We have unlimited energy, we have to make our own cars and have more timber than we can ever use, “the US president in social media has recently writes.
TRUDEAU backed away by announcing revenge tariffs for about $ 106 billion ($ 155 billion) from US goods on Saturday. Of this, about $ 20 billion ($ 30 billion) was imposed on Tuesday.
“We will stand strong for Canada. We will stand strong to ensure that our countries continue to be the best neighbors in the world, “Trudeau said.
But on Monday afternoon, the Canadian Prime Minister announced that the proposed tariffs would be paused for at least 30 days after he had a “good call” with Trump.
Canada will ”Appoint fentanyl king, we will list the cartels as terrorists, guarantee 24/7 eyes at the border, we will start a joint strike of Canada and the United States to combat organized crime, fentanyl and money laundering, among other measures, Trudeau said.
I just had a good conversation with President Trump. Canada applies our $ 1.3 billion border plan – strengthening the border with new choppers, technologies and staff, increased coordination with our American partners and increases resources to stop Fentanyl flow. Almost …
– Justin Trudeau (@justintrudeau) February 3, 2025
“Subject to Trump's whims”
Asa McKkercher, a professor at St. Francis Xavier University, who studies relations between Canada and the United States, said the two countries have experienced tension in the past.
He pointed tensions over Canada's refusal to join the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and personal animations between former US President John U Kennedy and Canadian Prime Minister John Difenbaker in the early 1960s.
But McKkerher said that the current tension in trade has immersed the connection to its largest point.
“We haven't really seen Americans get out of their way imposes a policy This will simply destroy the Canadian economy. This is the difference here, “McKkerher told Al Jazeera.
He said that since Trump signed the order, resolving the rates against Canada and Trudeau revealed reciprocal measures, a step was observed in nationalist sentiment in Canada.
The Canadian crowds stroke the US national anthem of hockey and basketball games Over the weekend, while the leaders of several provinces called on people to “buy Canadian” in response to tariffs.
“Some people respond in the only ways they can, which is a US hockey team and does not buy Kellogg's cereals because it is done in America,” he said.
For the average person, explained McKkercher, these “small acts of challenge” offer a “sense of agency” in a situation where they can otherwise feel powerless.
“We are really subjected to the whims of a man in the White House and this is a very scary thing.”
Confusion and uncertainty
In a small Montreal Fruit and Vegetation Store on Monday morning, buyers Patricia and Laurel were looking for avocado-but they had to make sure it was not from the United States.
“It creates a lot of concern for everyone, in my opinion,” said Patricia, who only gave Al Jazeera his name, said the coming tariffs. “Even the atmosphere as a whole: prices will rise, this will change our pace of life.”
“We have to boycott (American products). I have to, ”Lorraine said as the couple left the store.
“We have no choice,” Patricia added.
The owner of the store Amin Multihim said he was waiting to see how potential tariffs would affect his business. He told Al Jazeera that he was already selling local goods, but during the winter months a larger part of the production came from the US and Mexico.
“Everything is expensive now,” he said.
A few blocks, in a provincial alcohol store, client Angelo Baaco added us to blame to a small shopping cart. Quebec's government He had said that American alcohol will be removed from the shelves from Tuesday.
“These are just things I won't be able to get in the next few months or who knows how long. So I decided, “Okay, I might get it,” Baaco said, reaching for red wine from California. “I'll take another one, just in case.”
Yet the threat of a long trade war goes beyond daily purchases. For many Canadians – including those who live in poverty and homelessness – perspective can make Already a difficult economic situation Baller.
Georges Okhana – the Director of Prevention of Homelessness in the old brewery mission, Montreal Support and Advocacy Organization – said his most alarm was a potential job loss as a result of US tariffs.
“This can enhance what has already been very difficult for the year in terms of inflation,” he told Al Jazeera.
Ohan has already said that in recent years there has been an increase in demand for food banks and shelters in Montreal in Montreal. The cost of renting in the city has also jumped, which made it difficult to find more difficult to find.
“When you make these different systems, it makes it difficult for homeless men and women, people who are vulnerable, people who have trauma can get the help they need,” he said.
But, Ohan added, “I don't think we should jump to conclusions (at tariffs). I think we have to wait to see how he is glad. “
“No ally's actions”
Even as Canada seems to have secured an inferior from US tariffs – at least for now – many Canadians have expressed anger from Trump's repeated threats against their country.
Last week the leaders of political, labor and civil society released The Bet for Canada to build a national response to the Trump Administration's policies.
This includes the protection of Canadian sovereignty, the reduction of the “dependence of the country on the United States through the diversification of our trade” and the construction of alliances with other countries, including climate, humanitarian assistance and the development of democracy.
“It becomes very clear that in order to build Canada's resistance in this increasingly awake world, it means that we are actually reducing our dependence on our southern neighbor,” said legislator Charlie Angus of the new Democratic Party during a press conference Announcement of the campaign.
According to Payne in Unifor, a threat of tariffs – which Canada is going through for weeks, as Trump first made his plan known in November – remains dangerous in itself.
“This causes the industry to pause the investment. This causes the industry to divert investment in the United States. This causes the industry to cancel investments as tariffs make it more expensive to work, “she explained.
But she said Trump's tariff threat also created an understanding in Canada that the country should review all its economic and commercial policies, including public procurement processes, infrastructure projects and the development of natural resources.
“It's all on the table in a way that hasn't been on the table for a very long time,” she told Al Jazeera.
“There is currently a great appetite for this because it makes sense … that we no longer have a friend the way we thought we did, and a stable trading partner,” Payne added.
“We have a president who breaks the trade agreements. We have a president who threatens us daily with measures that would throw our economy into a recession. These are not the actions of an ally. “
