Canada, one of the main U.S. allies and a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has been under the leadership of its Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, now the former leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. Canada continues to be a key ally to the United States, politically and economically. During the past few years, questions have risen over how Trudeau’s leadership has affected Canada. However, our perspective in this article is to discuss the significance of Trump’s tariff and how Canada and Mexico have responded respectively.
First, let’s understand the landscape of Canada and its growth. Canada has been a country since 1867. During this time, Canada gained its rightful autonomy as a nation. During its more than 100 years as a nation, Canada has had 23 prime ministers, including Brian Mulroney, Stephen Harper, and Pierre Trudeau, father of Justin Trudeau.
During Mulroney’s term, from 1984 to 1993, he worked closely with the United States and contributed to the North American Free Trade Agreement. Mulroney was an environmental activist and as noted on Britannica, he worked on trade policies with the United States on how to deal with acid rain in the North Hemisphere, specifically North America. Brian Mulroney was in a landslide, as the frontrunner for the Progressive Conservative Party.
Stephen Harper, a notable politician in Canada, served from 2006 to 2015. Most notably, Harper is the only prime minister to be elected “from the Modern Conservative Party of Canada.” Stephen Harper was chosen as the leader of his party back in 2004 when he began to adopt moderate policies concerning the country’s budget, and tax relief. In the biography written by Britannica. Harper continued to be the leader of the opposition, and by January 2006, he was elected as Canada’s new Prime Minister. The biography details more of Harper’s term as Prime Minister, including his programs to secure Canada’s sovereignty.
Now, you may ask yourself how the Canadian government functions. The Canadian government follows a parliamentary system of government, where an assembly legislates. The Canadian government has a bicameral legislature, just like the United States; Canada runs on the House of Commons and the Senate. However, what’s important to note is that the Head of State is the monarch, as the country has connections to the English monarch. If you wish to learn more about the Canadian government, here is a link to understand their legislative structure.
After unraveling the basis of the Canadian government and politics, let’s begin to look into the tariffs Donald Trump announced and later delayed for 30 days. Donald Trump made a promise of implementing tariffs once he was sworn into office. On February 1st, 2025, Donald Trump confirmed a 25% tariff on imports from Mexico and Canada, followed by a 10% tariff on imports from China. Trump has defended his position because of the immigration policies held by Mexico and Canada.
Tariffs are generally viewed as a controversial method. According to the Council of Foreign Relations article on the Trump Tariffs, a tariff is defined as a tax placed on a foreign good “paid by the importing business to its home country’s government. In simple terms, a tariff is a tax implemented on a good that’s entering the country. An example from BBC News is stated as follows: “So a car imported to the US with a value of $50,000 (£38,000) subject to a 25% tariff, would face a $12,500 charge.” Now, the norm is tariffs can have damaging effects on a nation. However, the opposite can be said; the article, notes how tariffs have helped countries shelter local firms from foreign competitors. Local firms are essential, especially for a small governing country, to manage their resources carefully. Tariffs can help to address any malicious practices done by countries to make their exports cheap.
During the campaign trail, Donald Trump promised to grow the US Economy and combat the high inflation felt by many Americans. However, as described by BBC News, “If the US importing firm passes on the cost of the tariff to the person buying the product in the US in the form of higher retail prices, it would be the US consumer that bears the economic burden.”
BBC News laid an example of a common consumer good, a washing machine. Back in 2018, Trump imposed a 50% tariff on such products. What was the aftermath of it; the value of a washing machine jumped to about a 12% increase or equivalent to 86 dollars per unit. The article also highlighted how the new tariffs would lower American’s income; a typical household could lose about $1700 a year.
BBC’s article on the recent Trump tariff also analyzed the impact these tariffs could have on trade deficits. Some economists have supported Trump’s tariffs as a way to boost national industries: “Oren Cass argued tariffs can incentivize firms to keep more of their manufacturing operations in America, which he argues has national defense and supply chain security benefits.”
Another article looked into the perspective of what US consumers can expect. In the article by Reuters, they reported that 1 out of 5 Americans are buying more products than usual, which highlights the uncertainty for American consumers. Tariffs have been linked to high inflation because tariffs increase the cost of goods flowing into the country. This article briefly summarized how consumers rush to purchase goods, in fear of a high price surge.
In the aftermath of the announcement, Mexico and Canada agreed with the United States to halt these tariffs for 30 days, to negotiate issues over immigration. Donald Trump made a post after reaching a deal with Justin Trudeau: “I am very pleased with this initial outcome, and the Tariffs announced on Saturday will be paused for 30 days to see whether or not a final Economic deal with Canada can be structured,” “FAIRNESS FOR ALL!” Justin Trudeau also made a post commenting on these 30 days and addressed the need to work as two nations to combat the issues each faces in their country.
Earlier, Claudia Sheinbaum spoke with Donald Trump and paused any incoming tariffs for about 30 days. Sheinbaum also promised to reinforce the Southern border by sending 10,000 members of the National Guard. AP News provides an outline of this information and more, including Trump’s response to why tariffs are vital for the United States to pursue.
These tariffs have been put on hold but if you’ve been keeping up with the news, you may have heard about the recent egg shortages. Egg shortages have resulted from the recent bird flu, affecting the price of these products. This makes eggs more expensive to purchase for consumers; the USDA reported that eggs are expected to increase in price by 20% this year. For those interested in the statistics of bird losses per system, here is a report from the US Department of Agriculture: “The USDA revealed the 2025 Egg Layer Losses by Production System on Feb. 14, 2025: Conventional caged eggs: 17,305,550 birds lost; a 74% share; Cage-free eggs: 6,141,050 bird lost; a 26% share; Organic eggs: 26,100 bird lost; a 0.1% share; Total birds lost to HPAI in 2025 so far: 23,472,700.”
Continue to stay informed about the current state of the economy. As students, we need to keep up with the information on the state of our country but also make sure to know where we are gathering our information. The Economy changes from one day to another so taking note of how information updates is crucial to give unbiased opinions.
