At a Rock Hill, South Carolina rally for Republican Senate candidate Darline Graham on October 29, President Trump put it plainly. Canada took advantage of the United States for years. “We lost $90 billion last year with Canada,” he said. “And now we put tariffs on them. And they’re treating us extremely nicely lately.”
That line tracks with what has played out since summer. Canada walked away from a near-final trade deal, then slapped retaliatory tariffs on roughly $20 billion in U.S. exports. Trump answered with Section 338 tariffs—50 percent duties on a range of Canadian goods covering autos, metals, forestry products, dairy, and more. Canada answered again with 15-to-50 percent counter-tariffs on a similar volume of U.S. goods. The White House has kept refining the list; a October 23 proclamation, effective October 30, swapped some plywood, paper, and machinery out and added valves, carpets, and other items.
The asymmetry is the point. Canada sends roughly 72 percent of its merchandise exports to the United States. American exports to Canada are a far smaller slice of U.S. GDP. Canada’s own Parliamentary Budget Office estimates that the trade measures in place since early 2025, if they stay permanent, cut the level of Canadian real GDP by 1.4 percent after five years relative to a 2024 baseline, with exports down 7.6 percent and as many as 185,000 fewer jobs. The trade-weighted effective U.S. tariff rate on Canadian goods has risen from about 5.3 percent to 7.7 percent.
🚨 HUGE: Conservatives just took British Columbia for the first time in almost 100 YEARS.
64 seats. NDP left with 27. First Conservative majority since 1928.
President Trump shared it himself.
Even Canada is dumping the left.
THE RED WAVE IS REAL. https://t.co/KfYSbG8z60
— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) October 25, 2026
Recent Canadian data show some resilience. Statistics Canada reported real GDP rose 0.8 percent in the second quarter of 2026—the strongest quarterly gain since the trade conflict intensified—helped by higher energy prices and a rebound in auto shipments. Unemployment sat around 6.4 percent in July. But the budget office still cut its growth outlook to 0.9 percent for 2026 and 1.5 percent for 2027, and targeted sectors (steel, aluminum, forestry, electronics, and certain auto and machinery lines) have taken the heavier hits. Energy has largely stayed outside the main tariff lists, which has cushioned the headline numbers.
Ottawa has talked about diversifying exports and deepening ties elsewhere. The U.S. share of Canadian goods exports has drifted down from the mid-70s, yet the American market remains dominant, and non-U.S. gains have been uneven. Informal talks have continued—Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Canadian Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc have been in contact—but the core demands have not moved: Canada wants relief on autos and steel; the U.S. wants better access on dairy and alcohol and an end to the retaliation that followed the summer collapse.
Trump: “I told everybody that you can’t build your cars in Mexico and Canada and send them back in with no tariffs and no charge and take away our jobs, take away our companies, and take away our wealth. Not happening.” https://t.co/sM1G7SMQnI
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) October 28, 2026
Trump’s Rock Hill remarks treat the softer Canadian tone as evidence the tariffs are working. The PBO math and the continued White House adjustments to the tariff list say the leverage is still on the American side. Canada’s economy is adapting where it can, but the dependence that produced the old imbalance has not disappeared. The lesson Trump described is still being learned in real time.
Whatfinger News is tracking the trade numbers and the next round of talks. Related coverage on the broader political and economic stakes is at https://dedicatedissues.com/election/.
— The Whatfinger News Team: Ben and Beth, with Grok on edits
From New York Post: At a rally in Rock Hill, South Carolina, Trump said Canada was treating the U.S. “extremely nicely lately,” claiming his tariffs had improved relations.
#southcarolina #trump #canada
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