With Donald Trump’s calls for Canada to be the 51st state, looming tariffs on Canadian and Mexican goods, and an emerging movement among Canadians to "Buy Canadian," YouGov has conducted a new binational survey to understand how Americans and Canadians are reacting to potential tariffs.
If the U.S. were to implement additional tariffs on Canadian goods, Canadians are more likely than Americans to say that the tariffs would harm both countries’ economies and make goods less affordable. Among Canadians, there is also broad support for diversifying trade partners and increasing border security in response to tariffs.
Comparing Americans and Canadians
Vast majorities of Canadians think that increasing U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods would hurt the Canadian national economy (80%) and reduce the affordability of goods (78%). While many Americans also think those tariffs would hurt the Canadian economy and affordability of goods, these views are slightly less common than among Canadians, at 63% and 61%, respectively.
Opinions of Canadians and Americans differ most on how tariffs would affect the U.S. economy. 68% of Canadians say that increasing U.S. tariffs on Canada would hurt the U.S. economy, compared to 44% of Americans.
Americans and Canadians differ sharply in their view of each country's relation to the other. Only 6% of Americans view Canada as unfriendly or an enemy, in contrast to half of Canadians (50%) who say so about the U.S. 82% of Americans view Canada as an ally or friendly, compared to only 33% of Canadians who view the U.S. this way.
Similar shares of American Democrats (86%) and Republicans (83%) say that Canada is an ally or friendly to the U.S. However, Democrats are more likely than Republicans to consider Canada to be an ally (62% vs. 43%).
Among Canadians, Conservatives (48%) are more likely than Liberals (32%) and New Democrats (15%) to consider the U.S. an ally or friendly.
The American perspective on tariffs
Americans have mixed views on tariffs for goods imported in the U.S. 25% say that they should be increased and 22% say that they should be decreased. 30% of Americans say that tariffs should be kept the same.
Democrats and Republicans have vastly different opinions. Only 8% of Democrats say that tariffs on foreign goods should be increased compared to 51% of Republicans. 80% of Democrats think that tariffs should stay the same or be decreased, compared to 29% of Republicans.
Around half of Americans each say that major reasons for Donald Trump’s tariffs are for leverage in other negotiations with foreign countries (55%), leverage in negotiations over trade agreements (53%), to project strength internationally (48%), and to follow through on campaign promises (48%).
Americans are least likely to say that pushing for Canada to join the U.S. (18%), lowering prices (19%), and lowering taxes (22%) are major reasons for the tariffs.
Democrats and Republicans are most divided on saying that boosting U.S. manufacturing is a major reason for the tariffs (24% vs. 72%).
The Canadian reaction to tariffs
Support for measures in response to U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods is widespread among Canadians. The responses Canadians are most likely to support, among those surveyed, are diversifying trade partners (77%), increasing border security (77%), and stopping the sale of U.S. liquor (72%) if the U.S. were to implement tariffs on Canadian goods.
Canadian Liberals are as likely or more likely than Conservatives to support all eight measures asked about. New Democrats are more likely than Conservatives to support nearly all measures included in the survey, with the exceptions of increasing border security and appointing a fentanyl czar.
Many Canadians also say that they are making changes to their shopping habits. The majority of Canadians (65%) say they have or plan on researching to see if the companies they shop at are Canadian-owned.
Majorities of Liberals (78%) and New Democrats (83%) say they have or will research which companies are Canadian-owned. While many Conservatives say they plan on researching if companies are Canadian-owned, the share who plan to do so is slightly lower at 56%.
Half of Canadians (53%) claim they have already started some form of boycott of American companies. Liberals (67%) and New Democrats (70%) are most likely to say that they are boycotting American companies. Conservatives are more in line with the national average, with almost half (46%) saying that they are boycotting.
— Kristin Crawford and Taylor Orth contributed to this article
See the results for this YouGov poll
Methodology:
U.S. poll: This article includes results from an online survey conducted February 12 - 14, 2025 among 1,104 U.S. adult citizens. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of adult U.S. citizens. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2024 presidential vote, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. 2024 presidential vote, at time of weighting, was estimated to be 48% Harris and 50% Trump. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given around November 8, 2024, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (31% Democratic, 32% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 4%.
Canada poll: This article also includes results from an online survey conducted February 14 - 19, 2025 among 985 Canadian adults. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of adult Canadians. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, education, region, and 2021 federal election vote. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2021 Canadian Census. The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 3%.
Image: Getty
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