As we settle back into our Adams County home following a summer in Ontario, we are increasingly appalled by the harm done to Pennsylvania by President Trump’s new trade war on Canada. The obvious economic harm accompanies unwarranted diplomatic damage.
Governor Shapiro recently pointed out, “Canada is Pennsylvania’s largest trading partner.” Imposing 50% tariffs on numerous Canadian goods harms Pennsylvania. The effect of tariffs themselves is widely known. US economic studies show that tariffs cause a net loss to the US economy. This is because the few jobs protected by tariffs come at a high cost (Obama’s tariff on tires has been shown to have cost $900,000 per US job saved, for instance), and they are far outweighed by higher prices for US consumers and businesses. Tariffs are not paid by exporters, but by US importers. So our importers must either absorb this cost, or pass on all or part of it to consumers and producers. This raises prices for consumers, as well as businesses and producers. Exporters become secondary victims, when importers can no longer afford their goods. Tariffs add to US inflation, as we see currently. After the Biden administration passed on a 3 percent inflation rate in January of 2025, the situation remained positive for four months, even falling to 2.4 percent in April of 2025. Then the Trump administration began to impose new US tariffs on various goods from our trading partners. Now US inflation has increased to between 3.4 percent and 4 percent, depending on the inflation measure used. The recent tariffs on Canadian goods will be paid by US importers, consumers, and producers. Meaning you.
This unprovoked trade war on our closest ally also does diplomatic harm. In July, tariffs on Canadian goods were first threatened after wildfire smoke from Ontario and Quebec was felt in the US. There is a stark irrationality to these threats made in response to wildfire smoke caused by manmade climate change—for which the US is especially responsible, and Canada much less so. And this goes beyond the political to the personal—we are very intertwined peoples. My family has summered in Ontario for four generations, and we are not alone. Some 100,000 Americans summer in Ontario. And many Canadians winter in various parts of the US, including about 60,000 in Florida and 40,000 in Massachusetts. Tourism is an industry that goes both ways and supports both economies. But our friendship goes way beyond financial advantage. Americans deeply appreciate that instead of complaints about smoke coming to Canada from wildfires in the US, Canada sends firefighters to help us. Likewise, without ridiculous complaints, Maine, New Hampshire, and Connecticut are among US states that sent firefighters to help Ontario and Quebec this summer. The brotherhood of firefighters, like the brotherhood of man, knows no borders. Calais, Maine and St. Stephen, New Brunswick even share a fire department, in keeping with cross-border mutual aid agreements dating back to the 1800s. It is tragic that our current federal government has lost all sanity and humanity. Gratuitous affronts like claiming to rename Lake Ontario, and calling Canada the 51st state, add insult to injury. This November it is crucial that voters remember the harm being done to our economy and our international standing and alliances by the current administration.
Judy Young is a US citizen who summers in Canada. She is also the wife of retired trade economist David Young, who provided tariff and trade information for this column.
