70% of Canadians support retaliatory tariffs on United States: Poll

OTTAWA — Seventy per cent of Canadians are in favour of dollar-for-dollar retaliatory tariffs on the United States, a new poll suggests.

Nearly half of respondents to the Leger poll — 45 per cent — said they were strongly in favour of such tariffs, while 25 per cent said they were somewhat in favour.

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U.S. President Donald Trump has pledged to impose steep tariffs on imports from Canada and other countries.

He has announced plans to implement a number of different tariff measures and signed executive orders to impose 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports starting March 12. Earlier this month, he paused his stated plan to hit Canada and Mexico with 25 per cent across-the-board duties, with a lower 10 per cent levy on Canadian energy.

Trump also has repeatedly pushed the idea that Canada should become a U.S. state and in January threatened to use “economic force” to annex Canada.

Leger reports 81 per cent of respondents said they were worried that Trump would use economic means, including tariffs and trade sanctions, in an attempt to force Canada into a “much closer and more formal union with the United States.”

The poll was conducted between Feb. 14 and Feb. 17 and surveyed 1,500 Canadians. Because it was conducted online, it can’t be assigned a margin of error.

Sébastien Dallaire, Leger’s executive vice-president for Eastern Canada, said the strong support for retaliatory tariffs shows Canadians are angry.

“It speaks to the level of anger on the part of Canadians, that they are willing for the government to take actions that in the end will hurt our pocketbook,” he said, noting retaliatory tariffs might increase prices or make some products less available to consumers.

Most poll respondents said they had cut their purchases of American products, with 63 per cent saying they were buying less in stores and 62 per cent saying they were buying less online.

Just over half — 52 per cent — said they were buying less through Amazon. Half said they had cut down on fast food purchases from American chains and 43 per cent said they were buying less from U.S.-based retail chain stores.

Almost one-third — 30 per cent — of respondents who had a trip planned to the United States said they had cancelled it.

But only 19 per cent of those who subscribe to U.S. streaming services reported cancelling a subscription.

More than two thirds — 68 per cent — said they had increased their purchases of Canadian products.

Dallaire said there are “large proportions of Canadians who are willing to put money where their mouth is.”

“They’re not happy and they’re finding alternative ways to spend their money, trying to support more local products, move away from American products or brands,” he said. “And so it’s a pretty significant movement.”

The polling industry’s professional body, the Canadian Research Insights Council, says online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 21, 2024.

Anja Karadeglija, The Canadian Press