EDITORIAL: Mark Carney has a tariff dilemma

Poll: 62% of Canadians want Carney to hit back at the U.S.

Published Jul 28, 2026  •  Last updated 3 hours ago  •  2 minute read

Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks to journalists about U.S. President Donald Trump’s new 50% tariff threat in the Parliamentary Precinct in Ottawa on July 21, 2026. Photo by Blair Gable /Postmedia Network

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The problem Prime Minister Mark Carney has with Ontario Premier Doug Ford and millions of Canadians wanting him to fire back with dollar-for-dollar counter-tariffs against U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest threatened tariff barrage, is that he thinks it’s a bad idea.

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That wasn’t always the case.

When he was running for the Liberal leadership, Carney said “dollar-for-dollar retaliatory tariffs by Canada should be a given … aimed where their impacts in the United States will be felt the hardest.”

But after becoming PM, Carney quickly shifted to the argument it was unrealistic since our economy is “a tenth the size of the U.S.”

That was Carney’s actual position during the election campaign that brought him to power, despite his famous hockey-themed “Elbows Up, Canada” ad with comedian Mike Myers, released the day before Carney called the election.

After he won, Carney removed most of Canada’s counter-tariffs on U.S. imports that were in compliance with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on trade, although he maintained sectoral counter-tariffs on steel, aluminum and autos in response to Trump-initiated tariffs.

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His reason was understandable because tariffs and counter-tariffs are paid for by the citizens of the country that imposes them in the form of higher retail prices for imported goods.

Meanwhile, an Angus Reid Institute survey released Monday found 62% of Canadians now want Carney to hit back at the U.S. with counter-tariffs, including 34% saying he should “match U.S. tariffs with equal counter-tariffs” while 28% want him to pursue limited counter-tariffs while continuing to negotiate.

By contrast, the survey of 1,790 Canadian adults taken from July 23-25 found only 19% wanted Carney to continue negotiating without imposing counter-tariffs while a mere 7% said Canada should make concessions.

The poll also found Canadians are losing faith in Carney’s ability to negotiate a good deal for Canada with Trump, with only 43% of those surveyed saying they now believe it’s possible, compared to 51% in April.

Last week, Carney said Canada may not get any deal, a far cry from his assurances in the House of Commons on Oct. 8 last year that, “we have the best deal with the Americans and … we will get an even better deal because we’re negotiating.”

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