A few hours after President Donald Trump announced that he would impose steep tariffs on Canada, hockey fans in the capital Ottawa booed the Star-Spangled Banner during a National Hockey League game against a visiting US team.
On Sunday, during a National Basketball Association game between the Toronto Raptors and the Los Angeles Clippers, it happened again, continuing throughout the song and almost drowning out the 15-year-old’s singer’s arena performance.
The vocal displeasure from usually respectful fans is a clear sign of Canadians’ deep dismay at Trump’s move to hit its nearest ally with punitive taxes, which threaten to spark an unprecedented trade war on the North American continent.
The 25% tariffs imposed by Trump on all Canadian imports into the US – with a lower 10% levy on energy – are set to take effect on Tuesday.
And they come as President Trump doubles down on his push – no longer dismissed as a joke – for Canada to join America and become the 51st state.
While many economists project the tariffs will also drive up costs for Americans on everyday essentials, from gas to groceries, Canada is the more exposed trade partner. If they last for months, the country could tip into a painful economic recession.
Anger is building – and with it, a desire to mount a fightback that has been echoed by political leaders in the country of 40 million.
“Many among us will be affected by this, and we will have some hard times. I ask you to be there for each other,” said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in a Saturday evening address. “Now is the time to choose Canada.”
Some Canadians have already heeded the calls for solidarity. On social media, guides have circulated on how to avoid American-made products. One local grocery store in Toronto even began labelling its Canadian yogurt for shoppers, according to an image posted by Toronto doctor Iris Gorfinkel on X.
Others have stated they will be cancelling travel plans to the US, or forgoing visiting there altogether.
“Yesterday, in response to Trump tariffs, we cancelled our family March break to the US,” wrote Seth Klein, a Canadian author, on Bluesky on Sunday. “Took a small hit on cancelled train tickets, but it needed to be done.”
In some Canadian provinces – namely Ontario, the largest by population – American booze will be pulled off the shelves indefinitely starting on Tuesday.
This is in addition to a total of C$155bn ($105bn; £86bn) of American goods that Canada has said it will tariff in retaliation, including vegetables, clothing, sports equipment, perfume and other items. Goods originating from Republican-led states, like Florida orange juice, are specifically being targeted.
The US imports more of its oil from Canada than any other country, and Trudeau’s government has signalled “all options remain on the table” for further retaliation.
A ‘destabilising’ moment for Canada
Trump’s follow-through on his threat of steep tariffs – which were long speculated to be a negotiation tactic to get concessions on border security – have bewildered Canadians, who have enjoyed close economic, social and security ties to the US for decades.
“It’s a shock,” Michael Ignatieff, the former leader of Canada’s Liberal Party, told the BBC.
“We’re into a new world, in which the question on whether you can trust America becomes the fundamental question in foreign policy for every country.”
Pierre Poilievre, leader of Canada’s opposition Conservative Party, called the tariffs on Sunday “massive, unjust and unjustified.”
“Canada is the United States’ closest neighbour, greatest ally and best friend,” he said, noting that Canada fought alongside the US in two world wars, as well as in Korea and Afghanistan. “There is no justification whatsoever for this treatment.”
Prime Minister Trudeau questioned in his Saturday address why the US would target Canada instead of looking to “more challenging parts” of the world.
A portion of his speech was directly addressed to Americans, and he too, pointed to a history of shared bloodshed. “We have fought, and died, alongside you,” Trudeau said.
Thomas Juneau, a professor at the University of Ottawa with a focus on national security, told the BBC that Trump’s tariffs “undoubtedly represent an earthquake in Canada-US relations.”
“This is extremely destabilising for Canada,” Prof Juneau said. “As a country, we have massively benefited from our extremely close trade and security partnership with the US for decades.”
While the trade battle would likely force Canada to look for partners elsewhere, it ultimately can’t escape geography, he said. It will remain reliant on the economic superpower next door.
“That is why Canada must absolutely now focus on salvaging the relationship as much as possible,” Prof Juneau said.
An unclear, costly fight ahead
The big unknown remains how long the US will keep the tariffs in place, and what steps Canada could take to appease the Trump administration, which has said it expects action on cross-border fentanyl trafficking and illegal migration.
TD Economics projects that the longer the tariffs remain in place, the worse the impact will be. Canada could enter a recession in five to six months, and its unemployment rate could hit more than 7%.
Theo Argitis, managing director of the Ottawa-based public affairs firm Compass Rose Group, said the unknowns had left Canada no choice “but to hit (Trump) back hard.”
“At the end of the day, we don’t even really know why he’s doing this,” Mr Argitis told the BBC.
Trump says the flow of fentanyl, a highly potent and deadly drug, into the US from Canada and Mexico, is one key reason. US officials say the levies will remain in place “until the crisis is alleviated.”
In response, the Canadian government has noted that less than 1% of fentanyl and illegal border crossings into the US come from Canada. It has offered to spend an additional C$1.3bn to secure the US-Canada border
But Trump has also spoken publicly about his frustration with the trade deficit between Canada and the US, and more broadly his view that tariffs could be a source of revenue for Washington’s coffers.
On Sunday, he wrote on Truth Social that the US does not need Canadian products, and said the US pays “hundreds of billions of dollars to subsidize Canada.”
“Without this massive subsidy, Canada ceases to exist as a viable country,” Trump wrote, before repeating his view that Canada should instead become a US state.
He has warned that the White House will enact harsher penalties on Canada should it choose to retaliate. For now, Canada has chosen to try and inflict some targeted pain on its more powerful neighbour, even if the economic scales are tipped against it.
“We prefer to solve our disputes with diplomacy,” Trudeau told his country on Saturday. “But we are ready to fight when necessary.”
By BBC News
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