Well, it didn’t take long. After President Trump rolled out his hard-hitting “Liberation Day” tariffs—a policy rooted in unapologetic economic nationalism—Canada decided to fight back not with steel or sanctions, but with billboards.
That’s right. In a move equal parts petty and passive-aggressive, the Canadian government is now buying up American ad space to preach to the U.S. public about the “real cost” of Trump’s trade policy.
The message? “Tariffs are a tax.” According to Global Affairs Canada, this campaign is all about “educating” Americans on how tariffs raise prices for fuel, groceries, and other daily essentials. Because apparently, a foreign government lecturing U.S. citizens from roadside signage is what passes for diplomacy in Ottawa these days.
Let’s not sugarcoat it—this is foreign interference in the most literal form. Canada is using American soil to sway public opinion against the U.S. president and against a core part of his economic platform.
Imagine the outcry if the roles were reversed—if Trump had bought ad space across Ontario telling Canadians that their policies were bad for business. But when Canada does it? It’s just “educational.”
The backdrop here is critical. Trump’s tariffs aren’t random. They’re a calculated response to decades of lop-sided trade deals that have gutted American manufacturing and allowed foreign governments—including Canada—to ride the gravy train straight through the American heartland. These new tariffs, including the headline 25% on Canadian goods and a 10% on Canadian energy, are part of a formula-based system aimed at correcting massive trade deficits.
In response, Canada is crying foul—because heaven forbid America finally says enough and starts protecting its own economy. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s office whined that the U.S. tariffs are “unwarranted and unjustified” and claimed the tariffs would “do harm to American workers.”
That’s rich coming from a country that’s benefited handsomely from U.S. markets while throwing up their own non-tariff barriers.
Here’s what’s really happening: President Trump is doing what past leaders were too scared or too compromised to do—put America first. He’s not interested in the stale rules of a “global trading system” that sold out our steel towns, hollowed out our auto plants, and turned a once-proud industrial base into a shell of its former self.