Canadians mad at Trump tariffs; support retaliation. Millions want to do their own part. The decision by US President Donald Trump to impose tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum has caught public attention in Canada in a way that few trade issues ever have – and Canadians are mad. 58% strongly oppose Mr. Trump’s action against Canada and another 21% oppose the US tariffs. What’s more, Mr. Trump has managed to unite Canadians to an extent that few issues do: opposition to the US tariffs is roughly 80% in every part of the country. Conservative voters are 82% against Mr. Trump on this issue, NDP voters 80% and Liberals 87%. Read more here...

UPSHOT According to Bruce Anderson: “Donald Trump is deeply unpopular in Canada, but Canadians have been mostly content to see the federal government work diplomatically to have a constructive relationship with his administration. His comments about and actions towards Canada have changed the way people feel about what should be done now – people sense that being agreeable and constructive might not work and that Canada must push back when aggressive and unfair statements are made about their country. People often overstate the actions they will personally take in response to an issue of concern, so care should be taken in forecasting a northern customer backlash – but that having been said, the potential for consumers to look for simple ways to tell Americans how upset they are is there – and for some segments of the US economy, the impacts could easily be meaningful, depending on how things unfold.” According to David Coletto: “When Canada is targeted, Canadians unite. That’s clear from our data. In the past year, we have rarely seen an action taken by the federal government that unites Canadians across regional or partisan divides, but this is one of them. More striking is how the anger over Trump’s decision could impact consumer behaviour in Canada. As Bruce said, people may be overreporting their actual intention to buy less American, but if a campaign builds, there’s a large audience who could be compelled to show displeasure with Trump’s trade agenda with their wallets.”