Trade tensions between Canada and the United States have flared up again after Prime Minister Mark Carney walked away from negotiations with the Trump administration last week. The federal government announced dollar-for-dollar retaliatory tariffs in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s 50 per cent tariffs on $28 billion worth of Canadian goods taking effect. Retailers are preparing for the impact of the tariffs. Loblaw announced it is bringing back the T symbols that show items whose prices have risen due to tariffs, as well as country-of-origin labels in fresh produce. The grocery store has been using maple leaf symbols to show homegrown products since the trade war erupted last year. The conflict has inspired many people across the country to join the “buy Canadian” movement. Numerous Canadians boycotted U.S. goods and avoided travel south of the border, despite the affordability crisis and soaring expenses. Diamond Isinger, who served as a special Canada-U.S. relations adviser for former prime minister Justin Trudeau, acknowledged that the retaliatory tariffs planned for American imports may increase prices for Canadians. “But of the choice of items on the long list that the government has put out, many of them have been chosen in such a way that there are Canadian alternatives available for those products,” Isinger told CTV News Channel on Tuesday. “So domestically, if you are to buy Canada, you can avoid those tariffs by supporting a Canadian business, instead, that manufactures the same or something similar.” Are you boycotting U.S. products due to the escalating trade war? If so, what products or services are you refusing to buy? How do you plan to cope as a Canadian consumer? Share your story by emailing us at dotcom@bellmedia.ca with your name, general location and phone number in case we want to follow up. Your comments may be used in a CTVNews.ca story. With files from The Canadian Press
