Canadians canceled travel south of the border, boycotted American alcohol and other products after U.S. President Donald Trump announced 25% tariffs on most Canadian goods on Saturday, Reuters reports.
Although Trump had promised to impose tariffs on Canada and Mexico before taking office, the perceived act of economic warfare against a country so close to the United States culturally and geographically came as a shock to many Canadians.
"Trump seems to want to restructure the world order," Drew Dilkens, mayor of the Canadian border city of Windsor, said in an interview. "He's willing to start with his closest ally... If he's willing to do that to Canada, what is he willing to do to everyone else?"
Dilkens noted that about C$400 million ($272 million) in trade crosses the Ambassador Bridge connecting Detroit and Windsor every day. For his community of 240,000, the impact of Trump's tariffs will be immediate. He hopes residents will support local wineries and distilleries.
Trump imposed a 25% import tariff on all Canadian goods, except energy products, which will carry a 10% tariff when they enter the United States.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau immediately announced retaliatory tariffs on C$155 billion ($107 billion) of U.S. goods. The C$30 billion will take effect on Tuesday, the same day as most of Trump's tariffs, and the tariffs on the remaining C$125 billion will take effect 21 days later, Trudeau said.
Trudeau also encouraged Canadians to buy local goods and vacation in Canada, a sentiment supported by many local officials.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford ordered American-made alcohol to be removed from the shelves of the provincially controlled Liquor Control Board of Ontario, the sole wholesaler of alcohol in Canada's most populous province, by Tuesday.
"Each year, the LCBO sells nearly $1 billion worth of American wine, beer, spirits and seltzer. Not anymore,” Ford wrote to X.
After visiting the church in Winnipeg, Lorraine Mackenzie Shepherd said her grocery shopping habits would change and she hoped to support Mexican products as well as Canadian ones.
“There will be job losses in this country... we know it will happen,” she said. “We need to find ways to stand in solidarity with others who will bear the brunt of this irrational anger.”
Calgary resident Ken Lima-Coelho said the news of the tariffs has brought a surge of Canadian pride to his household. His 19-year-old son is now making plans to sew a small Canadian flag to his backpack for an upcoming trip to Europe, while his daughter spent Saturday night reviewing Canadian food products in the family kitchen.
"There's nothing I can do about this quagmire we're in politically with the neighboring regime," Lima-Coelho said. "But I can change the toothpaste I buy... and that gives us something to do while we hope our political and business leaders resolve this situation."
In Ottawa on Saturday night, Canadians reacted more angrily to a hockey game: they booed the U.S. national anthem before the Ottawa Senators played the Minnesota Wild. Television footage showed basketball fans booing the national anthem again on Sunday before the Toronto Raptors played the Los Angeles Clippers.
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinyu called for calm.
"I think we have to recognize that our fight is not with the American people... for many of our families, our relatives across the 49th parallel are still our friends and relatives," he said at a news conference. "We still share the story of our veterans fighting side by side... We defeated fascism together."
Davis has created a Facebook group encouraging people to boycott American goods. He has canceled Netflix and is trying not to use Amazon.
He has also canceled plans to visit a friend in North Carolina.
"We are not going to America at all," he said.