For many Canadians, the shock is still deep. Being treated this way by the United States - once our closest ally and neighbor - is extremely disturbing, says Jay from Montreal.
Elaine is also deeply worried. The new reality is felt especially strongly in the supermarket, she told German public broadcaster ARD. Until recently, Elaine and her husband spent 500 Canadian dollars on their monthly purchases. Today, the amount has reached 800 Canadian dollars.
Fighting for survival
Small and medium-sized businesses in Canada have been fighting for their survival for months because of trade tariffs. Especially those with customers in the US, who are affected by Donald Trump's tariffs, explains Dan Kelly, head of the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses (CFIB).
The consequences are devastating, Kelly also told ARD. A Canadian honey producer recently told him that he fears losing an important US customer, to whom he has supplied for decades.
Since August, Canadian honey has been subject to punitive tariffs of 50 percent. The same applies to parts for model trains made with a 3D printer, which another Canadian company has so far sold mainly in the US. Immediately after the tariffs came into effect, the producer noticed that online shoppers were ignoring the goods as soon as they noticed the imposed tariffs, Kelly says.
Lack of government support
Many of the association's more than 100,000 members are not receiving government support at this difficult time, Kelly also says. According to him, the Canadian government's support measures only benefit large businesses.
"If you don't exceed the turnover threshold of 1 million Canadian dollars, you don't have access to any of the support programs," Kelly points out. "I find it shameful for our government to support large businesses but not small businesses."
Hope
Against this background, Kelly is hopeful about Canada's intention to expand its trade with the EU in the future in order to become more independent from the US. He expresses hope that in this way the free trade agreement between Europe and Canada (CETA) will finally be ratified by all EU member states. According to him, the agreement should even be expanded.
So far, it does not contain a chapter that would promote trade between small businesses in Europe and small businesses in Canada. "It would be great to add that," Kelly tells ARD.