Four out of five Canadians disapprove of U.S. President Donald Trump in the wake of an escalating trade war with Canada, a new poll has found.

The Campaign Research survey also found 72 per cent believe Trump’s protectionist policies have “harmed” the Canadian economy, while only three per cent said they have “helped.”

Seventeen per cent said they have neither harmed nor helped, and eight per cent didn’t know.

“The prime minister is definitely on the right side of public opinion on this issue, that’s for sure,” Campaign Research CEO Eli Yufest said of Justin Trudeau.

“If he’s able to rally the Canadian public behind him on this particular issue, that will no doubt bode particularly well for him,” Yufest said Wednesday.

“Certainly, Justin Trudeau has an opportunity to leverage the issue because of the importance to Canadians.”

Some 81 per cent said they “disapproved” of the job Trump is doing, while 11 per cent approved and eight per cent didn’t know.

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“The good news for Trump, anyway, is that Canadians don’t vote for him,” the pollster said.

Campaign Research surveyed an online panel of 1,579 adults from across the country between last Friday and Monday. A probability sample of that size has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Yufest said there is an “overwhelming” awareness of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in this country — 87 per cent of those surveyed knew about Canada’s negotiations with the U.S. and Mexico while 13 per cent did not.

Asked about Trump’s threat “to punish the people of Canada” economically, 61 per cent expressed concern, 34 per cent were not concerned and four per cent were unsure.

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In terms of Canada’s retaliatory tariffs against the U.S., 74 per cent agree, 14 per cent disagree, and 12 per cent had no opinion.

“It really speaks to the heart of what people need in order to survive, which is jobs,” Yufest said. “So there’s no doubt it’s more to do with that than some sort of knee-jerk anti-American reaction.”

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