'Better no deal than a bad deal': Canada on Trump's tariffs

Oh, Canada.So the administration announced new big tariffs on a range of Canadian goods.This has Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney saying he's going to enter into intense negotiations with the United States over this.But you can only imagine what that does to a relationship which is showing some signs of strain with us this morning.Senate Chief Data Analyst Harry Enten.So how do Canadians feel about the United States, eh?

Oh, Canada.Oh, no.That's what's going on here.You know, it's like a bizarro Harry Houdini.How do you make an alliance disappear?How Canadians view the United States, a threat or cautiously in 2024, which is 26 percent.

Ally or friend, 73 percent.Now these numbers Inverse, flip around the rosy, look at this.Okay, now 74%.Look at that, up nearly 50 points.Now say, Canadians say that the U .S.

should be viewed as a threat or cautiously the ally or friend.Down through the floor, down the St. Lawrence River.Now just 22 % of Canadians say they should view the United States as an ally or a friend.That is down, what is that?51 points.Canadians not liking the way things are going under the administration of Donald John Trump.

Just 22 % of Canadians view the United States an ally or friend, and they like everybody.They like everybody.All right.So how do they view the president in terms of, you know, compared to other presidents?

Yeah, okay.So Donald John Trump is the driver behind this drop in the ally and friend from 73 % to 22%.An unbelievable drop.You rarely see drops like that over the course of just a few years.And take a look here.Canadians' views on the U .

S.president in 2024.Look at this.Confident, 52%.Now, not confident as we go from Biden to Trump, 20%.And then the not confident number, look at that, up like a rocket from 46 % now to 79%.

My goodness gracious.Now just 20%, just 20 % of Canadians have confidence, have confidence in the US president.president.That is way down from what we were in the Biden administration.Now it is basically, what is that, 5 to 1, 4 to 1 against on the not confident to confidence.So, broadly speaking, are these feelings mutual?

No, that's what's so unbelievable, which is, you know, it used to be Canadians like the U .S.and Americans like Canadians.But now, what do we see?We see, look at this, net favorable view of Americans on Canada, plus 65 points.Look at that.

Americans still really love Canadians, but Canadians, on the other hand, look at that, the net favorable rating, minus 33 points.That is a difference of nearly 90 points.These numbers used to be far closer sympathetic They are no longer simpatico.Americans really still like Canada.Canadians don't like the Americans.And again, you can see it right here in these numbers.

The ally or friend number, 73 percent.I should note this is 2023.73 percent and now down to just 22 percent.My goodness gracious, you just never see anything like this.As I said, it's like a bizarro Harry Houdini.You make an alliance, poof!

Disappear all gone unrequited love there from the United States.Oh, very nice Harriet.

Thank not unrequited on this end No, not at all Not one bit the White House says that President Trump's hefty new tariffs and about 20 billion dollars worth of Canadian goods will take effect in 30 days He had threatened tariffs in retaliation for wildfire smoke from Canada that drifted into the United States But his officials say that the new 50 % levies are unrelated to that issue moments ago at the White House He said this Canada's been very, very tough on us over the years, for many years, and no other president's done anything about it.

I love Canada.I love the people of Canada.Many friends that live in Canada, but their leadership from Trudeau to the current leadership, I mean, in all fairness to them, they need us to survive.

The timing of this announcement is peculiar, following Trump's outwardly friendly meeting with Mark Carney just a few days ago.at the World Cup final.Here's what the Canadian Prime Minister said when asked about the tariffs earlier today.

I spoke with President Trump earlier this morning.We agreed to intensify negotiations in the coming weeks and the team and myself look forward to doing that.As always, Canadians, governments, business, labor will stand together to build Canada strong.

According to research from Capital Economics, about 5 % of Canadian imports would be affected by the latest tariff increase.

Time now for The Exchange.Joining us live now from the Canadian capital, Ottawa, the chief data scientist and founder of Nanos Research, Nick Nanos.Nick, just in terms of how Canada has approached this so far, I mean, this is not the first time that Donald Trump has imposed tariffs on Canada.Their sort of strategy has been to impose retaliatory tariffs.Just walk us through whether that strategy has worked, whether it has backfired, especially given where we are today with this new announcement by the Trump administration?

Well, what's clear is that the strategy of retaliatory tariffs from Canada on the United States is actually quite popular in Canada.And, you know, when you look at the polling, it's clear that the government strategy aligns with how Canadians feel.Whether that's the best strategy or not, we won't know until after there is an agreement.And we will know.what might be part of that agreement.But it's interesting in some of the initial reaction in Canada, especially from the leaders of various provinces across the country, they've been giving counsel to the Prime Minister, who I think they'll be meeting with today to say, better no deal than a bad deal.

And I think that's how many Canadians feel when it comes to what may be in store for the binational relationship when it comes to climate change.

Well, in one regard, Mark Carney owes his prime ministership to President Trump, really.I think had Trump not attacked Canada, levying these tariffs and claiming that it's the U .S.'s 51st state, he may not even be in this position.And yet his position seems to differ from some other premiers, namely the Ontario premier, who is demanding dollar for dollar retaliation, while Mark Carney is pushing for more talks with the White House.How is that being pushed?

perceived by the public, can Mark Carney afford to be the calmest person in the room?They don't blame Mark Carney for this because they know that the White House, the administration has been the initiator.And, you know, let's face it, this new tariff, this 50 percent tariff that the president has announced, I look at it as the president just firing a starter pistol that the president wants to have negotiations with Canada.So it's one way to get the attention of the Canadian government and to bring the Canadian government to the table.It's another thing as to whether there will be progress on the trade negotiations, because although Canadians overwhelmingly want to have a trade deal with the United States, it's about 80 % of Canadians, they don't want to have a bad deal.And I think that's what, Prime Minister Carney is hoping to try to navigate, not to look weak, but to have a deal that is perceived of as beneficial to Canada, but also a win for the United States.

What has been Canada's strategy so far in dealing with these tariffs and protecting Canadian exporters and Canadian businesses that havebeen affected by these tariffs.As I understand it, there's been loans, there's been financial support, but one of the key areas that Mark Carney has really emphasized is this idea of diversifying away from the United States and not having this sort of over -reliance and over -dependence on a trading partner that, quite frankly, has been somewhat unreliable so far.Just explain to us how Canadian businesses are faring under the Trump administration's policies thus far.

Well, you know, Canadian businesses are definitely feeling the squeeze, especially those that rely on on the U .S.as a major market.You know, the strategy for Mark Carney has been international and global and to diversify trade with Europe and Asia and and even the Middle East.And, you know, the thing is, is that we have to remember that for all of these initiatives and they've been fast and furious for Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.The fact of the matter is that is that diversifying trade with the United States is a very tall order.

You might as well just ask the government to be boiling the ocean because more than 70 % of all our trade is with the United States, like diversification would be going from like the mid 70s of all of our trade in the world, or having a trade with the US down to the mid 60s.So the fact of the matter is, is that even with everything that the Canadian Prime Minister is doing to diversify trade, the reality is, is that at the end of the day, the United States will remain the most important trading partner for Canada.regardless of what happens in terms of talks with Europe, Asia or any other part of the world.

So after 18 months of tariffs and threats over fentanyl, wildfires, hockey sticks, I mean, you name it, I do wonder if there's a sense of fatigue amongst Canadians, just this constant tension with the United States, somethingmost people wouldn't have even imagined just two years ago.How is that polling?And ultimately, where do they want to see this land?

Well, there's no fatigue yet.We have to remember that Canada is a country that invented ice hockey.Fighting is part of the game.You fight in an ice hockey game, you don't get ejected.You usually go back into the ice after serving a penalty.There's not a lot of fatigue right now, just because Canadians know that the importance of the Canada -U .

S.relation is paramount.They're worried about the future, but they still understand that they need stability and what I'll say, a reasonable deal with the United States.The big question is, as there's uncertainty in the Canadian economy, as Canadian consumer confidence remains flat, How long a runway will Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney have?We don't know that.But the fact of the matter is that Canadians firmly focus a lot of their anxiety and a lot of their anger at the White House, not necessarily at the Prime Minister, and just see the Prime Minister as someone that's trying to navigate in a world that is much different than it was three or four years ago.