Canada should not respond to potential U.S. tariffs with retaliatory tariffs, as this would primarily harm Canadian consumers by driving up prices. Instead, Canada should leverage its industrial and technological capabilities to undermine the monopolistic rent-seeking of American corporations by legalizing and promoting third-party modifications, repairs, and alternative marketplaces for technology, agriculture, and other industries. By dismantling restrictive intellectual property laws—many of which were imposed under the USMCA trade agreement—Canada could become a global hub for jailbreaks, independent app stores, and right-to-repair solutions, thereby reducing dependence on U.S. tech monopolies and fostering a new high-tech economy that directly benefits Canadian consumers and businesses.
This needs to be one part of a multi-part retaliation to the US. The trade deals between the US and Canada are worth almost 1 Trillion dollars with manufactured goods and fuels being a large part of it. With the US being so politically unstable and aggressive, we need to find new trade deals and walk away from these draconian agreements we made with the US.
Canada has major ports on both the Pacific and Atlantic coast with rail and road infrastructure linking them to the rest of the country. There is a lot we could do. Will we? Probably not. A sizable portion of our own political sphere wants to bend over and take it from Trump even though he will give no love in return.
Individuals should also stop looking at the US as a destination for their travels, too.
Canadians make up the largest number of visitors to the US each year, and that would account for tens of billions in lost spending.