A new round of tariffs is expected to hit Canada on April 2.
With the tariffs being implemented in just under a week, students are not exempt from the fear, anxiety, and questions of Canadian identity that plague the country following Donald Trump’s campaign and presidency. The new round of tariffs are in response to the Liberal Government’s 25 per cent tariffs, estimating to increase current rates by a minimum of 4.59 percentage points. The increase has the potential to diminish Canadian gross domestic product by two to four percentage points.
Canadian Chamber of Commerce Economist, Stephen Tapp, reported the United States tariffs threaten to push Canada’s economy into a recession by the middle of 2025. Students are sharing worries about the economy they’ll be graduating into.
“I fear I might just be stuck in a never-ending cycle of owing everyone money and not being able to do what I love with my money, so that’s definitely scary,” Jordyn Schneppenheim, ArtSci ’27, said in an interview with The Journal.
The first round of tariffs came on Feb. 1, when Trump, the newly re-elected US President, signed an executive order placing a 25 per cent tariff on all imports from Canada. This prompted economic concerns and questions about the strength of the Canadian export market. Canada responded by placing a similar 25 per cent tariff on $155 billion of American goods, including steel, aluminum, and alcohol.
“If [Trump] is cutting off ties with us and that’s what’s going to crash our market, that concerns me,” Brynn Jenkins, Sci ’28, said.
This isn’t Trump’s first run around the block with implementing tariffs. During his previous presidency, Trump imposed tariffs on thousands of products valued at around $380 billion. These tariffs were estimated to have reduced gross domestic product by 0.2 per cent, and employment by 142,000 jobs.
With the daily expenses that come with living away from home for the first time, many university students are tightening their budgets in anticipation of economic hardships ahead.
“I feel an increased need to be more intentional with the way I’m spending money, especially grocery shopping,” Maxie Grant, ArtSci ’25, shared.
Food prices are likely to be the first to increase, especially perishable goods that can only be stored for a short amount of time. With increased manufacturing costs, even goods produced in Canada are projected to sustain a price increase.
The incentive to shop Canadian has been inspiring for some.
“I feel there is an assembly between Canadians which is something I feel hasn’t been seen too often over the past several years. Seeing the commercials about choosing Canadian and ing one another has been quite touching and makes me proud to be Canadian,” Caidyn Murray, ArtSci ’26, told The Journal.
Not only are students searching for Canadian products, but there’s an awareness that trade between the two countries has been a foundational element of our economy.
“So much that we don’t even realize is from the US is in our grocery stores and on our shelves, but also so much energy the US uses is Canadian as well, and the different markets have always gone back and forth. I’m recognizing how much we impact each other now that we’re not trading seamlessly,” Grant added.
Trump’s first presidency in 2018 included tariffs on targeted industries, whereas the 2025 tariffs are an across-the-board threat. Trump had previously evoked sections 232 and 301 of trade statuses, allowing the president to impose tariffs on the grounds of national security. Contrastingly, the latest rounds of tariffs were pushed through via executive order, giving the president broad powers with few checks.
Even with a sense of Canadian pride, students still worry about the economically uncertain future.
“As an economics student, I feel it’s been harder for me to be certain enough about how firms and consumers will respond to these changes. There are so many outcomes I can think of that it makes it hard to be happy with the decisions I’ve made and confident about my future decisions,” Murray said.
As students brace for the impact of increased tariffs, their growing financial anxieties solidify a shared sentiment of shopping Canadian.
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