For generations, the 5,525-mile line separating the United States and Canada has been remarkable for what was not there.
No armies staring each other down. No walls dividing two suspicious nations. No expectation that the neighbor on the other side might suddenly become an economic enemy.
Now, the border remains peaceful, but the relationship across it is anything but.
A trade fight between two of the world’s closest allies has escalated into something far more personal and potentially more costly, with President Donald Trump imposing 50% tariffs on roughly $20 billion in Canadian goods, and Prime Minister Mark Carney promising to respond “dollar for dollar” beginning Sept. 8.
And while the battle is being waged from Washington to Ottawa, its bill will not stop at the Canadian border.
“We’re gonna be affected big,” one D.C. resident told Reuters in a televised interview. “You see it in the market. You see the groceries are going up. The farmers are catching it. You know, he came and flipped the whole system around.”
It can travel all the way to a grocery cart in Southeast D.C., a restaurant invoice on U Street, a construction estimate in Ward 7, or the monthly budget of a District resident already wondering why a paycheck seems to buy less than it did before.
Another resident worries about what could come next.
“Things are already rising,” said the Washingtonian, who asked to remain anonymous. “There’s already inflation and all that kind of stuff. So, I don’t really want like there to be other price hikes.”
A Border Without Guards, A Trade War Without Winners
For many, an international trade war becomes a neighborhood story.
Tariffs are collected from American importers bringing foreign goods into the country. Businesses must then decide whether to absorb those additional costs, squeeze suppliers, or pass some of the expenses to customers.
With a 50% tariff, the numbers only rise.
The latest duties cover about 5% of Canada’s annual exports to the United States, but the list extends deeply into everyday commerce. Affected products include agricultural goods, honey, clothing, furniture, cosmetics, jewelry, cameras, fabric, cement, and even hockey sticks. Economists and trade specialists warn that higher import costs tend to work their way through businesses and eventually into household prices.
For the District, which does not have the factories or border crossings likely to absorb the most immediate blow, the danger is still real.
“We have to remember…the integration of the corporate classes of our two economies has been achieved at the expense of working-class people in both of our countries. And to the incredible, staggering enrichment of the wealthiest people and corporations in our economy,” Avi Lewis, leader of Canada’s New Democratic Party (NDP), told Democracy Now on Monday. “It’s going to hurt Canadian workers, it’s going to hurt American workers.”
For instance, Canadian lumber and building materials can become more expensive for contractors. Imported food and consumer products can become more costly for retailers, while restaurants and small businesses face higher wholesale expenses. Another burst of uncertainty can make planning harder for businesses already juggling wages, rent, borrowing costs, and customers watching every dollar.
The United States and Canada sold each other roughly $880 billion worth of goods and services last year. Nearly 330,000 people and about $2 billion in goods normally cross their border each day. Canada sent 72% of its goods exports to the United States last year.
Carney has accused Washington of turning economic integration into a weapon and said Canada had been “attacked.” His government walked away from negotiations after concluding that American demands went too far, including proposed restrictions that would affect Canada’s ability to make trade agreements with other countries.
“We’re going to hit back,” the prime minister said.
A response is expected by Sept. 8, with Canada preparing matching tariffs and protections involving industries including steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper and electronics.
However, Trump administration officials insist Canada helped bring the confrontation upon itself.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Washington had offered tariff relief in sensitive Canadian sectors but ultimately decided it had endured enough pushback from Canada.
“Our interest is in protecting American workers and protecting American supply chains,” Greer said.
Maine Sen. Susan Collins (R) broke with the administration’s approach over the weekend, warning that businesses, farmers and lobstermen in her state were already concerned about tariff costs, missing domestic supply chains and Canadian retaliation.
Her concern remains that, while governments may aim their weapons at foreign countries, businesses and consumers at home can find themselves standing in the line of fire.
After the Supreme Court struck down his earlier emergency-based tariffs in February, the administration sought other legal avenues to advance its trade agenda. For the Canadian duties, Trump turned to Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930, a provision dating to the Great Depression that authorizes tariffs of up to 50% against countries deemed to discriminate against American commerce. This authority had never previously been used to impose tariffs.
The larger 1930 tariff law became known for the Smoot-Hawley tariffs, remembered by generations of economists for choking international commerce as the global economy descended further into the Great Depression.
Nearly a century later, Trump is gambling that trade barriers can protect American economic interests without causing too much pain at home, and the fallout could affect another creation Trump once celebrated.
The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, negotiated during his first presidency as successor to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), is under review. The escalating confrontation has raised new questions about whether the three-country economic arrangement can survive in its current form.
Meanwhile, District residents said they are bracing for climbing grocery receipts, rents, restaurant tabs, household goods and construction costs.
One resident interviewed about tariffs cited imported produce and the possibility that yet another category of everyday necessities could become more expensive.
Another said the effects had not fully reached the household budget— yet.
“We don’t see it yet, but one morning real soon we will wake up and find out that our president has made it impossible to afford anything in this country,” said a Black D.C. resident who identifies as Republican.
