EDITORIAL: Counter-tariffs raise our cost of living

They are paid by consumers and businesses in the country that creates them, not the country at which they are aimed.

Published Aug 25, 2026  •  2 minute read

Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks at CANSEC in Ottawa on Wednesday, May 27, 2026. Photo by HYUNGCHEOL PARK /Postmedia

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In imposing dollar-for-dollar counter-tariffs on hundreds of American goods valued at $27.6 billion starting Sept. 8, Prime Minister Mark Carney will increase the cost of living for Canadian businesses and consumers, knowing it will do nothing to end the trade war with the U.S.

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He knows that from recent history.

In March 2025, Canada announced it was prepared to impose counter-tariffs on $155 billion worth of U.S. goods to match an earlier threat by U.S. President Donald Trump to do the same to Canadian goods.

Eventually both sides reduced the number of actual tariffs they imposed on each other — because tariffs hurt the economy of the country that imposes them.

Tariffs are paid by consumers and businesses in the country that creates them, not the country at which they are aimed.

While initially supporting dollar-for-dollar counter-tariffs when he was running for Liberal leader, Carney subsequently said, after becoming prime minister, that their effectiveness was limited.

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American economy is 13 times the size of ours

That’s because the American economy is 13 times the size of ours, meaning Canada imposing dollar-for-dollar counter-tariffs in a trade war with the U.S. causes more economic damage to Canada than the U.S.

Despite that, when Trump implemented his latest round of new tariffs after negotiations to lower them fell apart, Carney said Canada would respond with dollar-for-dollar counter-tariffs.

Then on Monday, he suggested Canada might respond with targeted rather than dollar-for-dollar counter-tariffs.

But on Tuesday, without Carney present, Liberal cabinet ministers announced Canada was imposing $27.6 billion of new counter-tariffs targeted to specific American products, in response to Trump’s latest $28-billion in tariffs on Canadian products.

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Carney is spinning on this issue like a wind vane in a hurricane.

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His counter-tariff policy is based on politics, cashing in on Canadians’ legitimate anger at Trump.

The problem is that economically, it makes no sense.

Trump has already threatened new tariffs on Jan. 1, raising the possibility of another round of Carney counter-tariffs.

In July 2025, Industry Minister Melanie Joly, in defending Canada’s approach in this trade war said that, “Canada is the only country on earth, along with China, that has imposed so many counter-tariffs” on the U.S.

That’s because other countries know counter-tariffs raise the cost of living in the country that imposes them.

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