While support among the US public for the Trump administration’s tariff decision targeting Canada remained limited, Canadians viewed their country’s retaliatory move more favorably.
In a poll of 4,183 US and Canadian adults conducted from September 13 to 15, 56 percent of Americans said they disapproved of Trump’s tariff move targeting Canada. The share of Americans who viewed the tariff decision favorably stood at 26 percent.
Seventy-one percent of Canadian respondents approved of the retaliatory tariffs their country announced in response to US tariffs. The share who viewed the decision as wrong was 17 percent, while 31 percent were measured as holding a negative view of the decision.
Only 8 percent of Canadians viewed Trump’s tariff decision targeting Canada as the right move, while 83 percent considered it wrong. The share of Americans who viewed Canada’s retaliatory tariffs favorably was 33 percent.
Reciprocal tariffs take effect
In July, the US administration announced that it would impose a 50 percent tariff on some goods imported from Canada, alleging that Canada had engaged in discriminatory practices against American products. The tariffs took effect on August 22.
In response, the Canadian administration announced that tariffs of 15 percent, 25 percent or 50 percent would be imposed on certain US products. Canada’s retaliatory tariffs began taking effect on September 8.