The latest round of tariffs is drawing criticism from Canadians who oppose the Trump administration’s trade measures. “We’re not too pleased with that boy (President Donald Trump),” said Jerry Leonard regarding the most recent round of trade talks between the two countries. Canada walked away from trade talks Friday night after negotiations with the United States collapsed, saying the U.S. “asked too much and they offered too little.” Leonard hasn’t travelled to the U.S. since Trump took office for his second term. He has no plans to go until a new administration is in office. “We don’t have any plans in the near future to go anywhere near the States,” said Leonard. “No more (American) bourbon (either).” Travel expert Onanta Forbes anticipates the latest round of tariffs will have other travellers being cautious about booking a trip to the U.S. “What I have seen is clients aren’t booking right away,” said Forbes. “They really are taking time to make that decision.” In addition to a looming trade war impacting travel plans, the strong U.S. dollar is also a deterrent for travellers. Laurent Gunzlaz from Ottawa won’t be heading south either. “We just decided to never travel to the U.S. under this administration,” he said. Regarding retail spending, an Abacus Data survey found 53 per cent of Canadians say they go out of their way to choose a Canadian product over a non-Canadian one often or almost always. John Pracejus, director of the School of Retailing at the University of Alberta, anticipates more people will start buying Canadian. He points to why the trade talks broke down and how closely Canadian consumers were paying attention as reasons more Canadians will get on board to buy Canadian. “The story, from the Canadian side, is that the Americans asked for new things at the 11th hour that were completely unacceptable to them,” said Pracejus. “When consumers hear these kinds of narratives, it’s going to really engage them back into that strong feeling that they need to buy as many Canadian goods as possible.”
