JAY GOLDBERG: Canadian politicians knew Trump’s tariffs were coming but failed to prepare

Canada’s leaders talked about diversifying trade, cutting red tape and building major projects but did too little before the tariffs hit

Published Sep 03, 2026  •  Last updated 2 hours ago  •  4 minute read

Prime Minister Mark Carney with premiers, including B.C.'s David Eby (right) at the first ministers meeting in Charlottetown on Thursday, Photo by TIM KROCHAK PHOTO

Some Canadian politicians have been caught flat-footed in responding to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff agenda.

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For a year and a half, Canada’s political leaders have known that Trump’s protectionist trade agenda was on its way.

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“Instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens,” said Trump in his second inaugural address.

Of course, that’s not how tariffs work. Tariffs are taxes on imports, which are paid by residents, not foreign nations. But Trump wasn’t about to let economics get in the way of his protectionist agenda.

Just months later, on April 2, 2025, on what he termed “Liberation Day,” Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on dozens of countries. While he suspended most of those tariffs until the summer of 2025, countries that failed to reach deals with the administration, including Canada, saw increased tariffs take effect.

Although Trump’s tariffs have escalated in recent weeks, the key point is that Canada’s politicians have known about his tariff plans for well over a year. He has made no secret of it.

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Talk is cheap

As a response, Canada’s politicians have talked a goodgame. For example, Prime Minister Mark Carney has spoken at length about the need to diversify trade, remove internal trade barriers, pursue major economic projects at home and cut red tape to respond to Trumpian protectionism.

So, too, have most of Canada’s premiers.

But instead of taking real action, Canada’s politicians have chosen to procrastinate, launch consultations and make grandiose announcements that have, in reality, achieved quite little.

New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt has been one of Trump’s foremost critics among Canada’s provincial leaders and has supported bans of U.S. liquor and a hard-line retaliatory tariff approach to Canada’s response to the Trump administration’s tariff agenda.

Yet like most of Canada’s politicians, Holt has spoken about the need to change Canada and New Brunswick’s approach to the economy and international trade but has done very little to do exactly that.

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Last week, Holt made headlines in announcing that, afterspending a career opposed to fracking, she is considering lifting the Gallant government’s fracking moratorium, imposed across the province over a decade ago.

She’s planning to launch a five-month consultation process to consider lifting the fracking ban.

According to Holt, times have changed. And New Brunswick, which gets most of its natural gas from the United States, might have to change too.

“We see a global dynamic shift in relationships and energy,” said Holt. “The only responsible thing to do at this point intime is to revisit the conditions of the moratorium to determineif this is something that can benefit New Brunswickers.”

But Holt also cautioned that this is just the “start of aconversation” and that “this is not a green light to start getting drills in the ground.”

Whatever one’s position is on fracking, Holt’s approach to the issue is precisely why so many Canadians think politics is broken. It’s also why Canada seems to be caught so flat-footed in responding to the changing dynamics of international trade.

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Too little, too late

Trump has been clear about his tariff intentions for well over 18 months. Embracing fracking would have been an excellent idea 18 months ago. And Holt could have taken time to “consult” New Brunswickers and other stakeholders about a potential decision on that front back then.

But to wait until now, when the Canadian economy is suffering and New Brunswick energy prices are sky-high, and then start a five-month consultation process, is foolish.

New Brunswick sits on an estimated 77.9 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas, and, according to the government itself, that could be worth hundreds of billions of dollars and could help lower home heating costs.

Why wait so long to explore this possible avenue foreconomic growth and price relief for New Brunswickers?

Unfortunately, Holt is but one example. British Columbia Premier David Eby blocked the most logical route for a new Alberta pipeline, while Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew waited months before embracing Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s proposed Northern Shield Energy Corridor.

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It’s time for Canada’s politicians to get serious about the need to take an all-hands-on-deck approach to strengthening Canada’s economy. Until they do, Canadians will remain rightly frustrated both with the Trump administration’s policies and with Canada’s politicians’ lack of seriousness in responding to the challenge.

— Dr. Jay Goldberg is a political scientist and a fellow with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.

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